Return of the Privateer
by Darien Fawkes
Summary: As the end of the Ranger's search for the remaining keys gets ever closer, an old enemy returns to make things all the more difficult. Can the Rangers finally see an end to the threat of Lafitte? Or does he have more power than he lets on?
1. Chapter 1

**Legal: **I do not own Power Rangers or the associated names, places, events etc. Anything not covered by the above rights should be considered purely the creation of the author!

**Rating: **T – May be some mild adult themes.

The Rangers were somewhere out over the Atlantic, having left London far behind before Vrak could bring yet another attack their way. The city had suffered during their short time there, having been hammered with more than one major monster attack. As much as they never really ASKED to be attacked, the fact was whenever they were spotted in a city; it wasn't as though The Armada would leave them alone. Sometimes, the best thing they could do was be seen leaving so that the city wouldn't suffer any further, and so it was now standard practice to leave the cloaking device off until they were a significant distance from the city just to make sure the Armada saw them go and would know that they were no longer in the city.

It was one of the worst parts about their status as fugitives. There weren't any Armada outposts left on Earth. They had all pulled out when the Rangers first arrived, to prevent them attacking them where they could find them. While they knew The Armada would be scanning for them, they were generally quite careful when they went to a new city, but there was also one last way The Armada could find out that the Rangers were in the city. With the price on their heads growing after each and every battle, there was unfortunately no shortage of people willing to inform on them, hoping to collect. Some people still blamed the Rangers for the damage The Armada caused, and given the state they left some cities in; it wasn't hard to see why. For others, it was simple greed. The fact was that when there were hundreds of millions of dollars, life-changing values on offer for information that led to the Rangers being caught, it wasn't hard to understand why some people saw the money and not the loss of the Rangers.

Orion was sitting, reading a book, looking a little confused. With Emma and Gia making efforts to learn about Andresia, he had come upon the idea that perhaps it was only fair that he tried to learn something about the Earth. He held up a hand.

"OK, how exactly does a tea party start a war?" He asked. Gia and Emma just looked to each other before they started to laugh. "What?"

"That's not exactly what was meant by 'The Boston Tea Party.'" Gia told him, folding her newspaper and coming over. She slapped it down in front of him. "Here, why don't we give history a rest for now and look at some current events."

Orion picked up the paper and looked to it. He just shrugged.

"It's a wanted poster." He said as he picked up a cup of tea. "I've been a fugitive since I signed up with Lafitte, I've seen these before."

"But I bet you never had anything like this." Gia answered, pointing to the value on the paper. 175 million dollars were now riding on his head. He just looked blankly at her. Tensou just looked to him, and said something in Andresian. Orion spat out his tea, spraying it over the floor as he heard what Tensou said.

"How much?" He asked. By context, Gia figured that Tensou had translated for him exactly how much money was on offer for him.

"I guess running with us has increased your stroke as a pirate." Gia said with a smile. "Congratulations, I guess you're officially on the Most Wanted list."

"Hey, check it out ladies!" Jake said with a proud smile as he came into the room, flexing. With nothing to do most days other than train, all of them had increased their fitness quite a bit. While Noah had made the most obvious improvements in his physique, Jake was also looking pretty ripped these days. He had his shirt off, and threw it into the washing hamper. "Guess who just set a new record on the bench press?"

"Oh, my hero." Gia said sarcastically. "Could you put some clothes on?"

"Let him have his moment." Noah chuckled. "It's not every day a guy manages to bench 215."

"Unmorphed." Jake added for clarification. The suits did add a fair bit to their strength. Noah had done the calculations and told them exactly how much once, but no one really paid attention. All that mattered was that when they needed it, they had a little boost. Still, it was an impressive feat alright.

"215 pounds?" Emma asked. "That's...that's pretty impressive."

"How...how much is that?" Orion asked. Tensou quickly translated. "Not bad."

"Not bad?" Jake asked. "You think you can do better?"

"I used to haul heavier loads than that back at the mine." Orion told him with a shrug. Jake just rolled his eyes.

"Yeah, I'll believe it when I see it." He answered. It hadn't been lost on the others that Jake more than the rest of them was still sceptical about Orion's place on the team. He hadn't really warmed to him yet, largely out of resentment over the fact he was taking the role they had expected Jordan to be coming back for. He saw the paper. "Oh...that's the new rewards? What am I up to, let me see!"

He cleared his throat and started to read aloud.

"In first place, with a reward of 200 million dollars, Troy!" He called out. Troy just took a little bow hearing this. "In second place, with 180 million, Noah!"

"Well, you know, I do what I can." Noah said with a proud little smile.

"And with 175 million..." His words tailed off. "ORION?"

"Yeah, Tensou was just explaining..."

"You just joined the team!" He yelled. "How...?"

"I guess what Orion and I did to Argus earned us a major boost." Noah told him. Emma took the paper from him.

"175 million each." She said to Gia. "Hey, not bad, we're only a little way short of the others."

"And Jake is worth..." Gia said, pausing for emphasis. "150 million dollars!"

"How can the new guy be worth more than me?" Jake grumbled. Gia just sniggered.

"Oh don't be a cry baby about it." Gia told him. "That's Prince Vekar's schtick these days."

"Whatever." Jake muttered. "Why don't we see where we're going next? After that ass kicking we got in London, I feel like dishing out some pain!"

"Tensou?" Troy asked. Tensou just dutifully landed before them.

"Fine, but you have to think of a new way to make this up to me!" Tensou told them. They still hadn't figured out how to activate his tracking software without smashing him over the head, but now the Mr Brainfreeze costume was gone, he wouldn't have the satisfaction of watching one of them make a fool of themselves in the new costume. Troy picked up a hammer.

"OK, so...whose turn is it?" He asked.

"It's been a while since I did it." Gia sighed. "I guess it should be my turn."

She approached slowly, and lined up the hammer with Tensou's head.

"I'm so sorry about this." She said, before bringing the hammer down with a huge clang. The others immediately scrambled to get the recording equipment. Gia set Tensou upright as he started to regain his bearings.

"In the Dock of the Seafarer, seek those unwillingly tracked,  
The team that saw off the demons that their home attacked,  
Release them from their bonds, and gain their trust,  
But beware the return of the privateer and his power lust."

Troy looked to the others, waiting to see if any of them had any idea where they were going.

"Well, there are only three Ranger teams' keys to get." Emma stated. "The Time Force, Lightspeed and Dino thunder keys."

"Dock of the Seafarer." Gia said as she thought about it. "Mariner Bay!"

"The Lightspeed team were fitted with the same tracking bracelets the Overdrive Rangers were." Noah reminded them. "Unwillingly tracked."

"Well, releasing them from their bonds...we need to get rid of those bracelets." Emma answered. "But then they have to go into hiding."

"Well, we can always see them to Briarwood or the Animarium." Gia suggested. "I guess it depends whether they prefer a town full of magical creatures or a jungle."

"There's one more problem." Troy reminded them. "The return of the Privateer."

"That sounds like we'll be seeing your old friend Lafitte." Jake commented to Orion. The Silver Ranger just glared at him.

"Lafitte is no friend of mine." Orion assured them.

"Alright, let's set a course for Mariner Bay." Troy answered. "Noah, The Armada's been using those tracking bracelets to keep tabs on the Lightspeed team since the beginning of the invasion..."

"But you think this might be one time we can use their technology against them." Noah surmised. "I like it!"

"See if you can find a signal that'll let us hack into their tracking." Troy told him. "Maybe if we can use their signal to find the Lightspeed team, we can find them, get a hold of them, and get out before The Armada have a chance to show up."

"It's worth a shot." Noah told him. "Never let it be said I don't like a solution that avoids a pointless fight."

As he went to a work bench to begin getting to work, Troy could only think about what the clue had told them. The last time they had faced Lafitte, while they had gotten away, it wasn't without cost. Between Colo and his remaining Ranger keys, he still had a lot of power at his disposal. Troy knew that they were going to have to face him again sooner or later to acquire the last of the Ranger keys that he owned, but he had a feeling that they still hadn't seen what Lafitte was really capable of. If he had a choice, he wanted to leave that battle until they had as much power behind them as possible.

Meanwhile, in Vrak's underwater base, Lafitte was just preparing for his journey. He knew that the Rangers were out there, and they had the power of the Ranger keys with them. He smiled to think about the position he was now in. He didn't really care much for politics, or the royal family. He didn't really care what issues Vrak had with his brother. All he cared about was his life of piracy. He had always loved the freedom it granted him, to go where he wanted, beholden to no one. While he wasn't especially worried about Vekar, having been on the run from him for years, he had to admit that he could only imagine how much more freedom he would have if he was no longer being pursued by The Armada's forces.

When he factored in having an entire army of Rangers behind him, he could only dream of the plunder that would be his for the taking. He could commandeer more ships, and raid planets and ships with impunity, taking whatever he pleased. He would no longer merely be a captain, but a Commodore of his own fleet. He smiled to think of it. The universe had so many riches, and it was all his for the taking, once he had his army.

As Colo loaded some more supplies, he paused as he heard Vrak calling him. He turned back, smiling as he did so.

"You called my Lord?" He asked. Vrak just glared at him. Right now, he needed Lafitte to fulfil his role in the war, to take the first steps in weakening his brother's grip on the throne. He didn't care for Lafitte, or his lack of respect, but for now, he was a powerful ally he could ill afford to lose.

"You're going to Mariner Bay." He told him. Lafitte just looked to him a little curiously as he handed Lafitte a scanner. "This signal is locked onto the frequency of tracking devices that have been planted on the Rangers there. If you follow that signal, it will take you right to them."

"Well, it takes some of the fun out of the hunt when you're led straight to it." He commented, before looking to Vrak. "How did you come by this frequency?"

"It wasn't cheap." Vrak told him. Lafitte just smiled.

"You have someone in your brother's court." He commented. "I wonder who it is. Not that walking tin can Argus, he's..."

"You needn't concern yourself with my affairs." Vrak told him. "You just do your part and I will do mine."

"Fine, I will." He responded. "I've been looking forward to being reacquainted with my old crew mate."

Meanwhile, up on The Armada Command Ship, Lavira went into Prince Vekar's chambers, carrying his latest meal. She was astounded to see the covers on his bed pulled back, and no sign of him in the bed.

"Your Highness?" She asked.

"I'm here." He called through. She made her way into his dressing chamber, finding him standing before a full-length mirror. There were some droids in the room, getting him ready. From the fact the faintly stale aroma that had built up around him in his depression, from spending all day every day in his bed without washing was noticeably absent, replaced with scented body oils, she presumed he had gotten himself cleaned up. The droids were currently dressing him, outfitting him with fresh robes and armour.

"Your...your highness?" She asked.

"What are you staring at?" He asked in response. "It's my ship; I can get up if I want!"

"Yes, but...your depression." She stammered.

"I can't lie around in my bed all day depressed, there's too much to do!" He said with authority as the droids started trying to strap his armour in place. "The Rangers grow stronger by the day, and in my absence, it seems my forces have accomplished nothing of note!"

"Yes, well...we've been busy replenishing our ranks." She muttered under her breath so he wouldn't hear the comment. His breast plate popped out of the grip of one of the droids as it tried to strap it in place.

"I'm surrounded by worthless...no wonder this operation is falling apart without me." He complained. "One of my serving droids informed me that scans indicate another enemy is in the area!"

"Yes, Lafitte." She sighed. "I don't know what he wants here, but coming back is a bold move indeed."

"The time has come for me to take back control of my empire! I cannot, I will not lose what is rightfully mine!" He declared, stamping a foot in a fit of temper as the droid lost its grip on the breast plate again, this time almost causing it to drop to the floor. "And what the hell is wrong with this armour?"

"Your highness?" Lavira asked him.

"This armour, it feels so tight I can hardly breathe!" He told her. "And these robes...they've shrunk! How did these incompetent droids shrink my robes AND my armour?"

Lavira had to stifle a laugh. During his weeks long sulk, he had taken to comfort-eating. Combined with the fact he barely left his bed in all that time...long story short, it was not the clothing that was the problem. It wasn't as though he was the most active of creatures anyway, but for weeks he had not left his room. The fact was he had noticeably increased in girth, but this was a fact that his followers were unlikely to bring up.

"Um...I shall speak to your stylist and have some robes brought to you." She told him. "And...I'll find the breast plate stretcher."

"You do that!" He announced regally as he picked up a cake from the tray Lavira had brought him and took a large bite. "I'm back, and the Rangers aren't going to know what hit them!"

As she left the room, she ran into Damaras, who looked confused as he saw serving droids buzzing around.

"What...what's going on?" He asked her.

"The Prince has decided to take back the reins." She told him. Damaras just looked to her.

"He's still alive in there?" He asked, looking to the room. "Well...I was starting to doubt it."

"Well, if you'll excuse me, I have to go and find the breast plate stretcher." She told him. Damaras just looked confused as she left.

"Breast plate stretcher?" He asked as she left in search of the fictional device. He looked to the door of the room, seeing more serving droids enter the room. This was a complication he hadn't foreseen. The Prince's absence had left him functionally in control of the ship. Now, somehow, the Prince had shaken himself out of his funk, and was no longer pouting in his room. Now, the Prince was back in the game.


	2. Race to Mariner Bay

On the bridge of The Fancy, Lafitte flipped on the autopilot after setting in his course. He leaned back in his chair, and took another long look at the scanner. Right now, it simply registered as a single white dot on an electronic map, but he had been assured that once they were close enough, once they were in Mariner Bay, the map would zoom in and become more detailed. That the scanner would show the exact location of all the trackers.

He understood that there were seven tracking bracelets left after the Overdrive Rangers had disappeared. The Armada had taken and tracked everyone they believed could potentially be a danger to them, and so there was one for each of the six Lightspeed Rangers, and one for their mentor Captain Mitchell. Although he hadn't really had many problems finding Rangers before, he had to admit that this search did sound on the surface like it was going to be a lot simpler. Normally, he only had to attack a city, and even after all their years of inactivity, without any powers, the Rangers tended to find him. The Galaxy Rangers, the Space Rangers, the Aquitarian Rangers...even the Overdrive Rangers had chased after him when he took Mack. He had met many people with a chronic need for heroics in all his adventures. Sometimes when he was on a raid, he encountered those who didn't seem to realise that they were overmatched, but these Rangers were almost a different species all of their own. They never gave an inch, no matter how clearly and decisively he defeated them. It was almost as though they relished the thought of laying down their lives.

He looked to the remaining Ranger keys in his collection. He didn't have many, but from what he understood, they had significant power. Many of them weren't called Rangers, but he knew they had fought with them, and some of them were more than a match for a Ranger.

Lined up before him, he had ten keys in total. That meant he had just short of two Ranger puppets for each of the Corsairs, along with himself and Colo. Figuring he would likely run into resistance, he was just trying to figure out how best to divide them up to search for the Lightspeed team and their remaining keys.

He breathed a sigh as Colo came over to him, his massive shadow covering him.

"Colo, you're getting in my light." He told the Gorilla. It just grunted in response. "Don't worry, you'll get a chance for some action soon enough. Mariner Bay is only a few miles away."

Colo just shuffled off, heading somewhere to amuse himself until he was called on to fight once more. Lafitte just shook his head as the gorilla left. He was a powerful fighter, one that had proven himself on more than one occasion. Better still was that Colo really didn't have much use for any form of money. As long as he had something to eat, he was more than happy to tear apart whatever Lafitte put in front of him without a second thought. A strong warrior that didn't need a share of the plunder to appease him, in some ways, he was a perfect henchman. Of course, he wasn't exactly much in the way of a conversationalist.

"Perhaps I should consider someone more talkative for my next crew mate." He mused as he turned his attention back to the Ranger Keys, and moved two of them away from the rest to a position of their own. "Now, White Ranger and Wolf Warrior were both Mystics. It seems a shame to split them up."

Meanwhile, on the Red Galleon, Noah was at his workbench, working on a device to hack into the signal for the tracking bracelets. Troy had figured that finding the Lightspeed team quickly was probably the best way to avoid too many problems with Lafitte or The Armada. Jake came in from the control room, and approached, pulling out a chair.

"We're about twenty minutes from Mariner Bay." Jake told him. "Troy wanted me to ask..."

"I'm almost done here." Noah assured him, putting aside a soldering iron and picking up a tiny screwdriver that looked a lot like a needle. "I just have a few more adjustments to make, and I should be able to track them within a couple of feet."

"Ooh, what's this?" Jake asked, grabbing a device. It was large, with a red casing, but the wires and circuit boards coming from it indicated it wasn't ready. Noah just took it from Jake, setting it aside.

"Jake, do you really have to play with EVERYTHING?" Noah reprimanded him. Jake just looked to him.

"It's a new weapon isn't it?" Jake asked him. Noah just nodded.

"Everyone else has been scaling up their arsenal, I figured it's about time I tried my hand at doing the same." Noah told him. "I've been studying our weapons in my spare time, and I thought...maybe I could come up with something with a little more...oomph."

"It looks kind of like...one of our blasters on steroids." Jake remarked.

"That's the general idea." Noah told him. "Now, if you could stop distracting me, this would go a lot faster."

"Well, Troy wants everyone on deck ready to go ASAP." Jake told him, patting the Blue Ranger on the shoulder. "Come up when you're ready. In the meantime, I need to find Mr Sociable."

"He was working out." Noah told him, pointing to a door. "And Jake?"

"What?" Jake asked him.

"Make an effort." Noah suggested. "Orion is trying."

Jake just went through the door, leaving Noah to his work. When he got there, he found Orion on the bench press, hefting some weights.

"Hey, Orion, we'll..." Jakes words tailed off as he saw the massive collection of weights on the bar. "Um...you should really have someone spotting you if you're going to push yourself like that."

"I've been fine up until now." Orion grunted, forcing out some more reps. Jake just went to get a towel for the Silver Ranger, returning to him.

"Troy said we'll be arriving soon." Jake told him. "He wants everyone up on deck as soon as possible."

Orion pushed out one last rep, before racking the weights. As he got up, he took the towel from Jake.

"I'll just get washed up and changed." He replied, making his way to his chambers to clean up. As he was about to leave, Jake couldn't help checking out the weights on the bar. He had set the record for the bench press that morning at 215 pounds. Orion had claimed he had lifted more regularly at the mines back home. Jake counted the weights a couple of times just to be sure, and his mouth hung open in shock. He had seen Orion lifting the bar; it wasn't as if he could deny it.

"Holy crap!" He whispered, looking to the door in disbelief. "He just benched 260 POUNDS?"

Noah came into the room, carrying his device as Jake just stood, frozen to the spot trying to rationalise what he had just seen. If he hadn't walked in on Orion actually lifting it, he would have thought he had just set up the bar for show.

"Jake, I've finished it." He told him. "We should get up on deck, and..."

He saw Jake still staring at the bar bell.

"Did I miss something?" Noah asked him.

"How the hell did he do that?" Jake muttered to himself. Noah just rolled his eyes.

"You'll have all the time you want later to compare...muscles." Noah said sarcastically. "In the meantime, time is a commodity we don't have."

Meanwhile, air currents whipped around a cliff face high above Mariner Bay. Even in the height of summer, this high up the air was significantly thinner and cooler. It was completely still up here, very few animals ventured this high up, other than the very few strong birds that nested so far above the bay area. It was impossible to see from the ground, but a single figure was slowly scaling the rock face, heading for the top.

Getting to a ledge, Kelsey wedged herself into place, allowing herself to release her grip on the rock face and rest her hands for a moment, looking upwards as she contemplated her next move. Since the beginning of the invasion, when the Lightspeed Rangers and Overdrive Rangers had been arrested and taken by the Commodore to ensure their obedience, life was far from plain sailing. They had claimed to have no knowledge of the other teams, something that most suspected was a lie. While Kelsey had only really met the Galaxy and Time Force team, she knew that Carter had been regularly in contact with other teams. It was something of a job requirement of a Red Ranger.

The public reaction to them had been somewhat mixed afterwards. Immediately following the invasion, back when The Armada had troops on the ground making things difficult for people, the general consensus was animosity. Many felt that the Rangers were being dishonest in their assertions that they didn't know who the others were, and believed they should be made to inform on their brothers in Spandex.

Others felt betrayed by the fact that they failed to keep them safe and wanted to see them punished under the new regime that promised to treat them with mercy as long as they co-operated. For a long time, they had been pariahs, openly publically condemned for not liberating the world or submitting to the rule of Prince Vekar without question. They had tried to just get on with their lives, but it was difficult when they met with judgemental stares everywhere they went. It had only gotten worse for them since the Overdrive Rangers disappeared, and they remained as the only Rangers everyone knew the identities of, and so they had become the focus of some people's frustrations.

Since the Corsair Rangers had shown up, and so far been successful in keeping The Armada at bay, hope was rising that there could possibly be a victory one day; there was an upsurge in pro-Ranger attitudes. The Lightspeed team had found things a little easier after that, but it was still hard not to feel some people resenting them. Kelsey, by virtue of her family's fortune, had no real need to work, and so she had dedicated herself to charity work, aiming to help people in any way she could. This was the latest such activity she had agreed to. She was being sponsored to climb the highest cliff in Mariner Bay free-hand.

She dipped her hands in some powder to dry them off as she prepared for her next move. She had been up this peak more than once in her time, but this was the first time she had tried to do so without any equipment. In fact, it was the first time ANYONE had tried to climb it free-hand. She had to admit that a part of her decision to take such a risk was because she was desperate to make sure people donated. After all, they knew she had climbed this peak before. Of course, as she got to a few awkward moments, she was starting to miss the idea of having a safety line, or pitons...or even a decent set of crampons.

She got to the bit she was dreading, pulling herself up onto a ledge. Here, the rock face was almost completely sheer from here to the top. The only way to get to a place there were more hand holds was to move across to another ledge a significant way away. The main problem was that there was no rock face between the ledges. The only way to get there was to jump, with a drop of a few thousand feet if she didn't make it! It was a prospect that was terrifying even to the Yellow Ranger who constantly told everyone her middle name was crazy.

She took a deep breath, and broke into a run, getting a couple of steps in, before launching herself into the void. She reached out with her left hand as she passed a grip to stop her momentum in case she slid off the ledge.

That was when she encountered her problem. The tracking bracelet, the steel cuff that had been locked onto her to keep track of her location, and allow The Armada to listen in on what she was doing snagged on the rock face. It dug into her wrist, and the grinding halt threatened to wrench her arm and wrist apart. The rock gave way, at which she hit the ledge at an awkward angle, sliding over the edge. Free-falling a short way, it was only years of experience and incredible reflexes that saved her, finding her catching another ledge a few feet down, and being left dangling over the edge.

She looked down, seeing her feet hanging above open space, and breathed a sigh of relief. She struggled to pull herself up to the ledge, and braced herself against the rock face. She held her arm to herself, trying to rub some feeling back into it. She had some grazes from where she slid along the rock face, and her arm was hurting. She looked up, seeing the climb still ahead of her, and looked to the bracelet.

"Stupid bloody thing." She muttered, cursing the impact it had on their lives. All of them had to watch what they said and what they did now, lest they do anything that gave The Armada an excuse to believe they were planning to fight them, or that inadvertently gave away the location or identity of another team. She could swear she heard engines, and she smiled a little. She didn't recognise the engine sound, it certainly wasn't a helicopter, but she could only think of the day she first became a Ranger. She had arrived at the top of this very cliff, only to be approached by an agent of Lightspeed Command. Was it possible her next adventure was going to begin the same way? After resting up for a moment, she steeled herself to begin the final leg of her climb, a smile spreading across her face.

Up on The Armada Command Ship, Prince Vekar came onto the bridge, just as Damaras was receiving a report from the field. As he came in, Damaras couldn't help noticing the difference in Vekar's girth. Having spent weeks in bed, stuffing himself with comfort food following his disastrous attempt at overwhelming the Rangers with sheer numbers had cost him most of his available forces had a somewhat inevitable result on his physique. Lavira had already convinced him she had somehow adjusted his armour, which he was sure had "shrunk" in that time with a mythical breast-plate stretcher...in truth she had just made him a bigger breast plate that accommodated his new pot belly.

"Your highness, it is good to see you back on the bridge." Damaras told him. "I was just receiving a surveillance report."

"Well, what is it?" Prince Vekar snapped. Damaras just ignored the tone in his voice as he always did. The Prince sometimes got these moods where he felt the need to be involved in things, to make himself feel useful and important. The way he was talking, anyone would think he was invaluable to the running of things, not that he had just surfaced from a several week long pity party.

"There have been unconfirmed sightings of the Red Galleon heading for Mariner Bay." He informed Prince Vekar. The Prince just looked to him.

"Mariner Bay...that sounds familiar." He said thoughtfully.

"You...um...you had their Rangers tagged with tracking bracelets when The Commodore took control." Damaras reminded him. Prince Vekar just looked to him.

"I KNEW THAT!" He screamed petulantly, smacking Damaras in the chest. "Don't tell me what I've ordered like some child!"

"Of course Your Highness." Damaras muttered.

"They must be going to try and free their comrades." Prince Vekar declared proudly, like he had just made some ingenious statement that was beyond the average mind. "We should send some forces to Earth...monitor those former Rangers right away!"

"Brilliant strategy Your Highness." Damaras said sarcastically.

"I want you to throw everything at this!" Prince Vekar told him. "I want X-borgs, I want Bruisers, I want a Commander! I want..."

His words tailed off as something caught his attention. Damaras just looked to him curiously, before following his gaze. In the corner, there was a large, shiny bulkhead that acted much like a mirror. Prince Vekar just looked to it in horror.

"Your Highness..."

"I...I look disgusting!" Prince Vekar declared, his hands straying to his belly. It was only now that he noticed a few things, like how his armour bowed outwards, and how his belly now extended out over his belt.

"Your highness, perhaps we should..."

"You're in charge Damaras!" He interrupted him. "I want detailed updates regularly! Have Lavira send Argus to me for urgent duty!"

"Where are you going?" Damaras asked him.

"I'm going to the gym!" He screamed in response as the door slammed behind him. Damaras just shook his head in disbelief as he called up a database to find a suitable commander for this mission.

Back in Mariner Bay, Kelsey was approaching the end of her climb, a smile spreading across her face. As she neared her goal, she couldn't help remembering the time all those years ago when she was in exactly the same spot, and Captain Mitchell changed her life forever.

As she reached the summit, she looked up, seeing a red ship waiting on her, but it wasn't the one she remembered seeing at the White House when the Corsair Rangers showed up for the first time. Just then, a huge, armoured hand seized her wrist, and she found herself hauled up quickly, and thrown high into the air, landing in a heap on the stone, twisting her ankle painfully. She looked up to see Lafitte and Colo standing before her.

"Well, thank you for finally joining us." Lafitte greeted her. "I believe you have something I want."

"Sorry, I don't know..."

"There's no need to be coy about it, I already know you're a former Ranger." He told her, grabbing her wrist, holding the bracelet in front of her face. "Thanks to this, I know exactly who you are. Now, I'm looking for a key..."

"House or car?" She asked him. Lafitte just laughed a little.

"Colo, perhaps you could convince her to be a little more talkative?" He suggested. Colo grabbed Kelsey around the throat, and lifted her bodily from the ground, holding her with her feet dangling uselessly above the stone. "Now, you have a choice. Either you can just give me your Ranger Key, or I can have my pet here twist that pretty little head off!"

"Fine, you win!" Kelsey replied weakly. Colo just dropped her to the ground. Kelsey looked around for a way out, before an idea came to her. She reached into her pocket, pulling something out. "You want it?"

Lafitte held out his hand, at which Kelsey threw it as hard as she could.

"Go and get it!" She yelled. Lafitte ran after it, seeing it heading for the edge, but as he got there, it smashed. He looked to it, finding the remains of an I-pod. Kelsey loved listening to music when she was climbing, but even she had gotten with the times and upgraded from her old walkman. He turned around in time to see Kelsey on her feet, limping quickly for the edge.

"There's nowhere to go!" He called out. Kelsey didn't listen though; she got to the edge, and threw herself off the cliff. Lafitte ran to the edge, stopping just short, just in time to see Kelsey pull the rip cord on her parachute. Climbing freestyle, she wouldn't have a line to descend safely. It was always her intention to BASE jump, all she'd needed was to distract Lafitte long enough to make the jump.

"Damn it, these Rangers are stubborn!" He commented. "Colo, back to the ship, we are NOT losing those keys!"


	3. Lightspeed Search

In a sea life park, deep within Mariner Bay, a man was busy practicing some kata on his midday break.

Chad had always loved his Martial Arts training, but he had found himself throwing himself into it with a lot more vigour as of late. It wasn't that he expected trouble, or that he thought he would be seeing a return to action. He had pretty much resigned himself to retirement from all forms of Ranger business after Carter's mission to the moon over a decade before. Not that he was complaining, it gave him time to deal with what he wanted next from his life.

He loved his job at the water park. The peaceful nature of it all really suited him down to the ground, and so what had begun years ago as a passing interest had become a career. His work with the animals, combined with the added attraction of having a Ranger on the staff, creating a lot of additional passing business had led to him becoming the manager, and later the owner of the whole park. Unfortunately, that created some difficulty when The Armada came.

Although public opinion on the team was a lot more balanced now, resentment towards their inability to act had led to a lot of negative press and declining business for the park. Chad had little option but to sell the park for significantly less than its true value, and step down as manager, so that he could be seen publically to have no more influence over the daily running of it. The new owner was kind enough to let him stay on in an entry-level position, meaning he still had time with the animals, but it wasn't the same.

As he finished up, he made his way to a bench, sitting down and opening his packed lunch. He was about to take a bite of a sandwich when he heard a commotion a little way off. Putting his sandwich away, he rounded a corner, finding a bunch of kids by one of the stingray tanks. They were gathered around one of them, whose hair and shoulders were completely saturated in water. From the way the others were laughing and high-fiving the largest of them, it seemed like his dunking was no accident.

"That's not funny!" The kid with the wet hair screamed back at them.

"It was from where we're standing." The big kid replied. "What are you going to do about it, cry?"

"Just leave me alone Greg!" He screamed. The others all started to close ranks around him.

"Or you'll do what exactly? You don't have the guts to take me on." He asked. "You know what guys? I don't think the shower was enough. I say we give Jamie here a bath!"

As they closed in on him, grabbing him, Jamie started to scream out. Chad let out a small cough as they tried to muscle him over the edge. They all looked around at him.

"Is there a problem here?" He asked them. He pointed to a sign. "I believe the instructions are quite clear that this isn't a swimming pool.

"We were just having a little fun." One of them protested as they dumped Jamie unceremoniously on the ground. Chad cast a quick glance his way, satisfying himself he was alright, before turning his attention back to the bullies. "We weren't really going to do it."

"All evidence to the contrary." Chad said as he approached them, looking down on them. Greg saw the cuff bracelet on his wrist and snorted.

"Wait, I know you...you're one of the chicken-shit Rangers!" He said with no attempt at all to hide the disrespect in his tone. Chad just looked to him with a stern look. All things considered, he had been called worse things in his time. It wasn't as though more than a few people hadn't felt compelled to voice their opinion on the fact the Lightspeed team had failed to repel the invasion. "Hey Jamie, look who you have standing up for you, a chicken-shit just like you!"

"Excuse me?" Chad asked him, crossing his arms. Greg just smiled at him.

"Jamie here can make us stop any time he wants, but instead, he just cries about it." Greg told him. "He's a chicken!"

"It doesn't take courage to fight when you're bigger than someone." Chat told him in response. "It takes even less when you have half a dozen friends for back-up."

"Whatever man, you're just a chicken-shit loser." Greg replied. "You didn't even get a shot in at The Armada. I'll bet that Olympius guy was a complete pushover. I'll bet even Jamie could have taken him."

"Kid, you weren't even born when I fought Olympius." Chad answered. "You don't know what you're talking about."

"Whatever, he's worthless." Greg said in disgust as Jamie finally got back to his feet. Greg and his bunch of bullies just wandered off, laughing as they went. Chad just sighed. He'd been bullied a lot himself as a kid, it was one of the main reasons he started his Martial Arts training, but far from just learning to fight his tormentors, he had learned that fighting wasn't the best way to deal with them. He had learned to think things through and look for other ways out. It wasn't as though he could beat up a bunch of kids, not without ending up in jail, or on the business end of a lawsuit.

He went to Jamie and placed a hand on his shoulder.

"Are you alright?" He asked. Jamie just pulled away. "What's the matter?"

Chad looked into the tank, and could see a pair of glasses in the bottom through the side panel. Clearly when the kids dunked him, his glasses had fallen off into the water. Fortunately, being a touch-tank for the stingrays, it wasn't especially deep, so it wasn't difficult for him to put his arm in and retrieve them. He dried them off on his shirt, before handing them to Jamie, who snatched them off him. He looked to Chad, but seemed more than a little angry.

"Thanks a lot!" He yelled. Chad just looked dumbfounded.

"I'm sorry?" He asked.

"Now Greg'll NEVER leave me alone!" Jamie screamed at him. "Now I'm just the kid who needs a coward to get him out of trouble!"

"You'd have preferred it if I LET him throw you in?" Chad asked him. Jamie just shoved his way past Chad and left. Chad breathed a sigh and watched him go. He doubted Jamie really hated him, he was just angry because he was humiliated, and he lashed out at the nearest target. As he turned around, he saw two creatures standing before him. One of them was dressed in bright red armour, and carried a shield with what looked like an eye in the centre of it. The other was female, and wearing white armour. She carried a long, white staff. Chad just looked to them.

"I'm guessing you aren't here for the one o'clock show." He commented. They didn't say a word, instead just advancing towards him. The Wolf Warrior pulled his sword out of its housing in his shield. "OK, clearly you want something; can we just talk about this?"

The White Mystic Ranger cast an ice-blast straight for Chad, which only just missed him as he threw himself aside. He rolled back to his feet.

"I guess so." He muttered as the two Ranger puppets rushed him.

On the other side of the park, Emma thanked the lady at the booth, receiving her tickets, before returning to Jake. The Rangers had split up to cover more ground, and find the sources of the signals faster, but even though they had a lot of ground to cover, they had opted for teams of two for the sake of safety. They knew Lafitte was out there with a bunch of Ranger keys, and Colo.

"Here you go." Emma said, handing Jake his ticket. The Green Ranger took it, following her through the turn-style into the park.

"I don't get it, I just...I don't get it!" Jake muttered. "He benched 260 pounds! How is that even possible?"

"Aw, are you all jealous?" She asked him. Jake just snorted.

"No!" He responded a little too quickly to be convincing. "It's just...how could he do it?"

"Well, he must have been pretty strong to work in the mine." Emma reminded him. "And don't forget for a couple of years, he's had pretty much nothing to do but train for his revenge mission..."

"He benched 260!" Jake reiterated. "Emma, that...that's just..."

"Why does this bother you so much?" Emma asked him. Jake was about to say something, but then they heard some screams, and a blast from a little way off.

"OK, it sounds like we've been beaten to the punch!" Jake stated as they broke into a run. He pulled out his morpher. "Guys, we're nearing one of the signals, but we have company!"

"Alright, keep us posted. Let us know if you need assistance." Troy answered as he put away his morpher. He was in the woods, a little way from the city centre with Gia. She was holding a scanner, and sweeping it around as it bleeped.

"The signal's strong, according to this; we should be practically right on top of it." She told him.

"Noah said the scanner works to within a few feet right?" Troy asked. "It's not like there aren't plenty of places to hide out here."

They heard a groan, and started to look around for the source of the sound. Eventually, Gia looked up, seeing a prone, almost lifeless young woman dangling from a parachute that had become tangled up in the branches. In her desperate leap to escape Lafitte, Kelsey didn't really have time to plan her trajectory, and had to control her decent as best she could. Landing in the woods instead of a clearing like she had originally intended meant that the landing was more than a little rough.

"We need to get her down." Gia told him. Troy morphed, before leaping up into the air, and swung his sabre, slicing through the lines. Gia positioned herself underneath Kelsey, catching her as she fell. The landing was a little less than dignified, but at least it wasn't lethal. Gia started to check her over.

"She's breathing." She told Troy. "She's pretty banged up, but she should be fine. We should probably get her to a doctor though."

"What...who..." Kelsey started to mutter as she started to come to. Gia de-morphed, looking down on her.

"It's OK, we're here to help." Gia assured her. "I'm Gia."

"Kelsey." The former Yellow Ranger responded, rubbing a large bump on her head. She looked up to the broken branches overhead. "OK, that wasn't my most graceful landing."

Gia just smiled at the comment. It was then that Troy noticed the tracking bracelet. He held it up.

"Gia, check it out." Troy said, letting her see it. Gia looked from the bracelet to Kelsey's face, and cast her mind back. She had only seen the Lightspeed team briefly in the Corsair team's first battle at the White House. It hadn't clicked until she saw the bracelet.

"You...you're a Ranger." Gia stated. Kelsey just nodded.

"Lightspeed Yellow." She informed her. "Um...can we get up now?"

Gia slowly helped Kelsey to her feet, seeing her favouring her right leg.

"How did you get here?" Gia asked.

"Some guy with a pirate fetish attacked me at the top of the cliff." Kelsey informed them. Gia and Troy looked to each other.

"Lafitte." Troy responded.

"Troy...we've got company." Gia told him as a couple of figures came through the undergrowth. They recognised them from the Ranger database as the Blue Centurion and the Sentinel Knight.

"Kelsey, stay behind us." Troy stated as he and Gia morphed. "We'll take care of this."

Elsewhere, Noah and Orion were heading through the city. They had been lucky, and found a strong signal, one that indicated that they had found two, possibly more of the tracking bracelets. As they made their way through the city, Orion was keeping an eye out for signs that they were being followed.

"Jake doesn't like me much does he?" Orion asked Noah. The Blue Ranger just looked up from the scanner.

"Sorry?" Noah asked.

"It's kind of hard to miss." Orion continued. Noah just sighed.

"I guess he was just really hung up on the idea of Jordan coming back." Noah told him. "They were pretty close."

"But it's not my fault that Jordan can't come back." Orion told him. Noah just looked at him.

"You know things aren't as simple and logical as that." Noah answered. "Andresians are human; surely you know that sometimes people's hang-ups aren't exactly logical. Give it time; I'm sure he'll get used to you."

"This morning when I was working out, Jake seemed to be upset about something." Orion told him. "He seemed to be annoyed at how much I lifted."

"Jake's always been very competitive." Noah said with a smile. Orion just seemed confused.

"Competitive?" He asked. Noah just laughed.

"It means he really likes to win at everything." Noah chuckled. "One time when we were 10, I beat him at Uno, and he wouldn't talk to me for the rest of the day!"

"I know what competitive means; people were like that back home." Orion told him. "We used to have sports and games to keep ourselves entertained, some people got really into them. I used to be really into Druchal."

He paused for a moment as he composed his thoughts.

"So, why is he angry at me?" Orion asked.

"He's not angry really, he's just...disappointed." Noah explained. "He's always been used to being the strongest on the team. When you beat his bench press record, it probably hurt his ego."

Orion thought about this. He didn't mean to upset him, he was just exercising, working to keep himself in the best shape he could for the battle against The Armada. He knew that Jake wasn't especially fond of him right now, and the last thing he wanted to do was enflame the situation. His attention was brought back to the task at hand as Noah said something.

"OK, that doesn't look good." Noah commented. Orion followed his gaze as he saw Noah following the direction of the signal. He looked up to a sign over a gate, and read it aloud.

"Mariner Bay Cemetery?" He asked. Noah just nodded as they headed inside. They followed the tracking signal, making their way between grave markers. Eventually, the bleeping from Noah's device became a lot more rapid, indicating they were right on top of them. He sighed as he realised this was a little too literal in this case.

"Here." Noah sighed, gesturing to three gravestones. They had markings indicating they were placed there by the Mariner Bay Fire Department. Orion knelt down, reading each of them in turn.

"Captain William Mitchell." He read aloud, before looking to the other two. "Captain Carter Grayson, Watch Leader Ryan Mitchell."

"Captain Mitchell died a few weeks after the first invasion by the looks of it." Noah stated, checking the inscription. "Ryan and Carter...according to this they died in a chemical plant fire a couple of months ago."

"Back home, my people often buried their dead with belongings that were important to them." Orion told him. "Should we start digging?"

"I doubt the Ranger keys are here." Noah sighed, shaking his head. "The bracelets are probably only here because they couldn't remove them."

Orion just nodded in response. On his world, burial was an important ritual. It was considered extremely disrespectful to disturb a grave. The only reason he had suggested it was because he believed it might be vitally important.

"Come on." Noah told him, eliminating those three signals from the scanner. "We won't find anything here."

Just as they were about to leave, they turned around to see three figures approaching them. From the database, they recognised two of them as the Shadow Ranger, and the Magna Defender. The third, they didn't recognise...it appeared to have similarities to the SPD suits, but was predominantly orange.

"Great, that's all we need." Noah muttered as he and Orion morphed.

Up on The Armada Command Ship, Damaras was working on something when a robot crew member approached him.

"Your new Commander is here." It informed him.

"Tell him to follow this signal." Damaras replied, handing him the frequency for one of the tracking bracelets. Lavira saw the location and just looked to him in surprise. "Can I help you?"

"Why are you going after that one?" She asked him. "The microphones on the Yellow and Blue Rangers are in battle as we speak! There's massive energy around..."

"That is why I want to go after the Green and Pink Rangers while everyone else is distracted." He explained.

"But the Rangers..."

"Let the Rangers and Lafitte beat each other senseless." He responded. "Then, we can go in and pick up the pieces."

"But..."

"This is why you're the Science Officer and I'm the Tactical Officer." He interrupted her. "It's probably also why the Prince left me in charge."

Lavira wasn't happy with this explanation. It was true she was more of a scientist than a military strategist, but something didn't feel right about this move. She had to concede one thing Damaras had said though. The Prince HAD left Damaras in charge while he went to get rid of his excess weight.

"Now, why don't you go back to your lab and see if you can't come up with something to help?" Damaras asked her. "We can never have too many toys after all."

Lavira just turned and left bad-temperedly as Damaras turned his attention back to the console to oversee his plan in action.


	4. Battle for Lightspeed

Argus walked with the Prince, through the corridors of the ship. He had since ditched his robes and his armour, instead wearing what could be best described as sweat pants and a tank top. It did him no favours whatsoever in hiding his new girth.

"How could this happen?" Prince Vekar muttered, cradling his belly with his hands, jiggling it a little in his grip. He wasn't the most active of creatures, since there were always droids and slaves to do most things for him, but he had attendants that always ensured they balanced his nutrition and other needs, keeping him...well...not like he currently was anyway. It was never a huge deal for the Royal Family, many of his ancestors had been hugely bloated, preferring feasting, drinking and throwing grossly outlandish ceremonies celebrating their victories to any form of physical pursuit, but Vekar was currently disgusted by his current state.

He planned to marry at some point, as was expected of him, to carry on the family name. It was pretty much required of him. He doubted he would have any real difficulty in doing so; normally the nobles of the many worlds under Armada control would make multiple pleas to the Royal Family to marry off their daughters in return for favourable standing within the Empire. Vekar's own mother had been more or less sold to his father when she was only barely an adult, and of optimal breeding age. Of course the fact Vekar didn't need to try and woo a mate didn't mean that he didn't hold SOME pride in his appearance. He was incredibly vain, and any imperfection was totally unacceptable to him. "How did they let this happen to me?"

Argus didn't answer. He was a cybernetic organism, at one time a powerful warrior in his own right; he had been surgically altered into his current state. At present, almost ninety percent of him had been replaced by robotics to enhance his abilities. Only a few organs, and much of his brain were still from his original host body, the rest being made from the best technology available from all corners of The Armada's empire. His mind had been altered, conditioned along with his transformation, and so he was completely and unyieldingly obedient and respectful to his charge, the Prince. He couldn't even speak against him unless he was given a direct instruction to do so. He knew exactly what the problem was, the Prince had embarked on a several week long binge of self-pity and comfort eating that had resulted in his massive weight gain. Although such things were not a factor to him, he knew enough of biology to realise that.

"I need you to train me, to once again make me the ruler this empire deserves." Vekar told him. "I will not have my subjects laughing at me and calling me FAT!"

"I can train you, and improve your physical fitness." Argus told him. "But to do so, I will require your permission to administer commands."

"YOU command ME?" Prince Vekar asked him incredulously.

"It is pointless for me to instruct you if you will not listen." Argus told him. "Whatever I say, you must do at all times, do you understand?"

"I understand." Prince Vekar said in a barely audible mutter. He hadn't received commands from anyone in many years. He was not used to being told what to do, much less having to obey those commands.

"This is the gym." Argus responded, gesturing to a door as they arrived. Prince Vekar hadn't been to this part of the ship in as long as he could remember. In fact, if he was entirely honest...he wasn't sure he had EVER been to this part of the ship. While he was vain and arrogant about all things, including his appearance, he wasn't really the kind of person who believed in working too hard if he didn't have to...and being royalty, he generally didn't. Argus opened the door, which slid open with a horrendous scraping sound, not a smooth swoosh as the others did. They stepped in, at which the lights came on...or at least...some of them did. The majority remained in darkness, having long since blown out, and having never been replaced.

Looking around, all the equipment in the gym was completely filthy, caked in dust and cob webs. The Prince balked, looking physically ill as he went to a multi-gym, stroking a finger across it, finding the indescribable filth to be just short of half an inch deep.

"THIS is the gym?" Prince Vekar asked him.

"It has not been used in some time." Argus explained. Prince Vekar just looked at him in confusion, at which Argus continued to explain. "You, Lavira and Damaras are the only full-time biological crew members. All the rest are robotic. Their physical parameters are consistent. They have no need of the gym."

"So how long has this been like this?" Prince Vekar asked him, pinching his nose as the musty air started to offend him.

"Approximately Seventeen Earth years four months three weeks and five days." He replied, checking the database for the last time anyone had accessed the gym. Prince Vekar just huffed.

"Well, this will NOT do! This will not do at ALL!" Prince Vekar said abruptly. "I will NOT be working out here until this place is completely cleaned top to bottom! Fetch some cleaning droids immediately!"

"No." Argus told him. Prince Vekar turned on him, staring at him in disbelief, like he had used some incredible swear-word, or heinous insult.

"WHAT DID YOU SAY?" Prince Vekar shrieked.

"This looks like it would be a good start to your workout." Argus responded. He went to a cupboard and pulled out a mop, bucket and some cleaning cloths, holding them out to the Prince. Vekar just looked flabbergasted.

"I am the rightful ruler of the UNIVERSE!" He screamed. "You want me to clean?"

"You agreed." Argus reminded him. The Prince looked at him sceptically. "This will be a great start to your workout. When the universe beholds you once more, you will show them the regal form you always wanted to."

Prince Vekar was about to say something, but looking in the filthy mirror across from him, he could see his bloated form, which was further distorted by the grime, making him look more like a balloon than a living creature. He just sighed and took the cleaning supplies. He looked to them for a moment, before asking an embarrassing question.

"How do these work?" He asked.

Meanwhile, in the Mariner Bay Sea Life Centre, Emma and Jake rounded a corner, shoving their way past people who were running the other direction as they followed sounds of battle.

"Watch out!" Emma called out as she ducked, some of her hair being burnt as a jet of flame shot a little way over her, narrowly avoiding baking her alive. Jake leapt up as a blast came, forming a spiked ice crystal on the ground, barely getting over it.

They looked up and saw the White Mystic Ranger holding a staff their direction. Behind her, they saw the Wolf Warrior attacking a large, muscular man in a park uniform. Far from trying to run, he seemed to actually be trying to fight him, even though his attacks seemed to have less effect than a fly hitting a windshield. Only his speed kept him from being cut down by the Wolf Warrior's sword as he countered.

"Wanna bet that's our guy?" Jake asked.

"Yeah, I don't make bets I'll lose." Emma replied as they both morphed, drawing their weapons. Emma ran at the White Mystic Ranger, keeping her attention as Jake slid between Chad and the Wolf Warrior, parrying one of his sword strikes.

"You look like you could use a hand!" Jake stated as he shoved the Wolf Warrior back with all his strength, giving himself some room.

"I wouldn't mind." Chad replied, clutching his shoulder as he tried to catch his breath. Jake ran at the Wolf Warrior, firing his pistol, the shots rebounding of his shield as he closed the distance to use his sword.

Elsewhere in the city, in a hangar at a small air strip, Joel was working away on a plane ahead of his next show. He was primarily a pilot, but he was still a pretty decent mechanic when all was said and done. He was a big believer that if he was going to trust his life to a plane he needed to know how it worked, and insisted on checking it out himself before the show. It wasn't that he didn't trust his crew, if anything; it was his way of protecting them. He didn't want there to be any doubts if anything ever did go wrong. If the worst was to happen, he wanted there to be no one to blame but him.

That was when he began his career as a stunt pilot. Now though, he had a lot of responsibilities he hadn't anticipated back when he was the arrogant, punk kid that earned the nickname "the Sky Cowboy" because of his desperate desire to top any manoeuvre that the others did, sometimes bordering on a suicidal lack of regard for his own safety. Now though, he had responsibilities he would never have foreseen himself having. As he reached down to his tool kit, he frowned as he failed to find the wrench he was looking for. He looked to the side and saw his ten year old son Sean standing, holding the wrench out.

"Thank you." He said with a bright smile, taking the wrench from him. Sean had spent enough time around the airfield that he knew the planes almost as intimately as Joel did. Hell, Joel was almost sure that he could probably FLY a plane if his mother wasn't so protective. Joel looked to him. "So, where's your mother?"

"I'm right here." Angela replied as she walked into view. She was wearing an expensive business suit. In the years since Lightspeed had disbanded, she had worked with the Government for a while, but when she and Joel were planning a family, she finally decided to use her education to ensure a good life for her family instead of continuing to work for Government wages. She had worked for a pharmaceutical company in the city now for several years, earning a six-figure salary. "He insisted he wanted to come in before the show."

"Well, I don't mind having a visit from my favourite assistant mechanic." Joel said as he approached his wife, kissing her softly. He could feel the tension in her; she got it before every one of his shows. "It'll be fine..."

"It'll be fine if you stick to the script." She answered.

"Where's the fun in that?" He chuckled. "The audience know most of the routines. I have to give the live audience something don't I?"

"I just wish you didn't take so many chances." She sighed.

"I'm not taking any chances." He replied, patting the side of the plane. "I know what this old boat can take."

"Dad...who's that?" Sean asked. Joel looked up, seeing a group arriving. The X-borgs and Bruisers were a familiar site on Earth by now, so Joel knew what was coming. Since he had been fitted with the tracking bracelet, he always knew there was a chance the day would come they would come for him. At the head of the group, there was a Commander, but this one seemed to have a much less militaristic air about her. She was taller than Joel and Angela, and had long, sweeping robes of a crimson red, whipping around her in the breeze as she came into the hangar. She was carrying a whip in her left hand. She had ice-blue flesh, and angular features...clearly the same race as Vekar. Her brilliant white hair extended far down her back, all the way to her backside. Joel just held up a hand as Angela was about to make a move.

"Don't say anything." He told her. "We knew this would happen one day."

"Joel Rawlins." The Commander announced in a voice that sounded like she intended it to sound friendly, but was still full of sneer and menace.

"That's me." He replied. "I've abided by all my parole conditions."

"Well, that may well be, but my Prince finds he has need of your services." She told him. She handed him a document. "I've been ordered to bring you into custody."

"I don't suppose I have any say in the matter do I?" Joel asked. "Do I at least get to say goodbye to my wife and son?"

"Just make it quick." She replied. "It would be in your best interests."

Joel turned back to Angela apologetically, but she just nodded in understanding. Without his Ranger powers, there really wasn't any point in trying to resist, especially not with Sean in the room. Joel pulled in, kissing her deeply. As he parted from her though, his attention was drawn by some new arrivals at the opposite end of the hangar. Coming towards them, he could see the Black Lion Warrior, the Chameleon Warrior, and Lauren's version of the Red Samurai Ranger approaching. He heard some weapons priming behind him, and realised this wasn't part of the plan.

"What is the meaning of this?" The Commander demanded. "Who are you?"

The three Ranger puppets didn't say anything in response. Instead, they broke into a run, charging past Joel and Angela as they ran at the Armada forces. Joel and Angela ran for cover, Joel snatching Sean up in his arms as he went. They barely got out of trouble before the first shots were fired wildly, and the Ranger Puppets ploughed into their attackers.

"What the hell is going on here?" Angela asked.

"I don't know." Joel told her as he looked for a way out, only to be driven back as a laser blast narrowly missed him. "But I have a feeling no matter who wins, we're screwed!"

Over in the cemetery, Noah and Orion were sent flying, crashing through a couple of grave markers as their opponents closed in on them.

"You DARE to attack us here?" Orion roared, snatching up his Silver Spear. "You DARE to disrupt the rest of the fallen?"

"Orion, it's not their fault!" Noah told him. "They're puppets animated by Lafitte! They don't have any will of their own! They're not doing this on purpose!"

"You will NOT DISGRACE THE DEAD!" Orion snarled as he ran at them. "They are with Andresia!"

He ran forward, straight through the Magna Defender's rifle blasts. Each one rocked him, like a hit from a sledgehammer, but his fury was so great that he powered through despite the impacts. He bore him to the ground, while the Shadow Ranger and Kat Ranger turned to attack him. Noah ran for them, seeing that Orion was in danger of being overwhelmed, but the Shadow Ranger saw him coming and swung around, slicing him down with the Shadow Sabre.

Noah could only watch as the Kat Ranger and Magna Defender overwhelmed Orion, being locked in a duel with the Shadow Ranger. He wanted to break off and help, but such was the Shadow Ranger's skill that to do so would only ensure that he went down. He renewed his efforts against his opponent, hoping that Orion's rage wasn't about to get him killed.

Over in the woods, Troy back-flipped away as the Blue Centurion fired lasers his way. Gia returned to his side as the Sentinel Knight regrouped with the Blue Centurion.

"These guys are tough." Gia commented.

"Kelsey, how are you holding up?" Troy asked. The former Yellow Lightspeed Ranger used a tree to help herself to her feet.

"I'll live." She told them. "But I'm not going anywhere quickly."

The Sentinel Knight leapt into the air, transforming into sword mode, before coming to rest in the Blue Centurion's grip. A moment later, they heard a rustling in the undergrowth, at which Lafitte and Colo appeared.

"Ah, I was wondering when you would show up." He commented to the Rangers. "I see you found my little runaway, how kind of you!"

"Stay away from her!" Gia snapped at him. He just laughed.

"And what, pray tell are you going to do to stop me?" He asked her. His eyes started to glow, and some energy started to ripple around him. Troy and Gia both started to back up as the sensors in their morphers relayed the information to their helmet displays.

"Gia, grab Kelsey." Troy told her. Gia looked to him.

"Really?" She asked.

"Yes, its part of my insidious 'live now, fight later' agenda!" He told her as he put a key into his morpher. Gia grabbed Kelsey, holding her closely as she returned to Troy's side.

"That's a taste of my power." Lafitte replied as the energy dissipated. "Give me the girl."

"Go to hell!" Troy replied as he turned the key, morphing into the Red Ninja Storm Ranger. He threw a smoke pellet to the ground which exploded. By the time the smoke cleared, they were gone, leaving only the leftover pieces of Kelsey's tracking bracelet. Lafitte approached them, picking a piece up and smiled.

"Don't worry, we'll meet again." He commented. "Come on, there are other Lightspeed Rangers to find."

Back at the cemetery, Noah struggled with the Shadow Ranger. His swordsmanship was amazing. It was like he knew every move Noah was going to make, and had already planned ten counters. As they grappled, Noah risked a glance over to where Orion was fighting, only to see him faring no better. He was being pummelled by the Kat Ranger and the Magna Defender, unable to get room to do anything in response. Just as it looked hopeless, he heard an engine kick into life.

The Magna Defender was standing over Orion, ready to strike him down with his sword when a massive circular saw came down, slicing from his head, down to his abdomen before the resistance stopped it. The engine revved up, finally freeing the blade, at which the Magna Defender disappeared, his Ranger Key falling to the ground.

The Kat Ranger and Shadow Ranger both turned to see the new arrivals. There were three men in black outfits, each wearing armoured rigs that looked more than a little familiar. It took Noah a while, but he smiled as he realised it was the Rescue Armour the Lightspeed team had used back in the day. He and Orion got back up, at which the five surrounded the last two Ranger Puppets.

"It's not as much fun when you're the ones that are outnumbered is it?" He asked. The two Ranger puppets disappeared in a bright flash. As Noah approached the three strangers, Orion picked up the Magna Defender Key, adding it to their collection.

"Why do I feel the need to quote Mark Twain?" Noah asked. "I guess you figured out a way to get out of the tracking bracelets."

The three men removed their masks, revealing themselves to be Carter, Ryan, and Captain Mitchell.


	5. Lightspeed Scramble

Lavira made her way through the corridors of the Armada Command Ship, to an area she never thought she would find herself visiting. As she made her way along the corridor, she got to an area which was only partially lit, with around half the lights having blown, and yet to be replaced. It was the corridor leading to the gym.

It had been a long time since anyone had used the gym. Essentially, Lavira, Damaras and the Prince were the only biological beings on the ship. Given all the time they spent attacking planets, combined with the fact none of them were exactly fanatical about the gym, it had been some time since it had been used. As she approached, she could hear loud panting and grunting, and presumed that Argus had begun the long process of getting the Prince back into shape.

As she got into the room, she found Argus standing in the corner, his arms folded, watching the Prince, who was on his knees on the floor, scrubbing the floor with a sponge. He looked about as happy as the many slaves he had condemned to death in the fighting arenas for his own amusement.

"This is ridiculous!" The Prince whined as he got up, revealing that he was wearing sweat pants and a tank top, both of which were already soaking wet, from a combination of sweat and errant water given his inexperience in cleaning. The clothing did nothing to hide his prominent pot belly, the self-inflicted result of his weeks of sulking in his bed shovelling junk food into his mouth. He had declared that he was intending to get back into shape as soon as he saw himself in a reflective surface. As he got up, Lavira noticed a bucket next to him, and a sponge in his hand. "Can't I take a rest now?"

"Do you think the Rangers would take a rest?" Argus asked him. "Finish your task, and then the workout can begin!"

"Begin?" Lavira and Vekar both asked in surprise. Argus was a cyborg, so it was no surprise he had no concept of the physical limitations of a biological body. Argus just looked to her.

"The gym has been unused in so long, it was coated in dust." He told her. "I decided the best place for the Prince to begin was cleaning this place up."

"We have droids for that!" Prince Vekar whined. "I'm tired! Can't I have a break?"

"You may rest for three minutes." Argus replied as Lavira gestured to him to leave so she could talk with the Prince alone. As he left the room, Prince Vekar doubled over and started to breathe heavily. Lavira approached him.

"That tin plated sadist is trying to kill me!" Vekar complained.

"Well, I suppose you did want him to get you into shape as quickly as possible." Lavira replied, stifling a little chuckle at the Prince's expense. She didn't dare to laugh aloud at his plight, but he DID want to return to optimal physical condition as soon as possible, and so when he asked Argus to train him...it was unlikely he was going to take that half-heartedly.

"I think someone needs to remind him not all of us are machines." He muttered in a pathetic little pout as he took a seat on a bench. "Look at this place! I've been cleaning for ages!"

"Well, I suppose that is a good warm-up." Lavira replied.

"WARM-UP!" He screamed. "You mean there's MORE?"

Lavira decided it was best to get off the subject, and address the matter at hand. It was clear that the Prince, while determined to get back into shape, wasn't exactly thrilled with the prospect of how long it would take to do so. Prince Vekar hadn't worked for anything a day in his life, everything was handed to him from the day he was born. As Prince Vekar mopped some sweat from his brow with a towel, she breathed a sigh.

"I have something troubling to report." She told him. "I believe Damaras may be disloyal"

"Damaras?" The Prince asked with a small chuckle. "You jest surely!"

"He has sent Gorea to the city to a location the Rangers are not defending." She told him. "I am not certain, but I believe..."

"Why...that's BRILLIANT!" Prince Vekar roared in approval. "He sends her after one of the Lightspeed team that isn't being defended! Can you not see the brilliance in that plan?"

"Sire, I believe..."

"Leave him be, he is tactical officer for a reason!" Prince Vekar declared regally. At that point, Argus returned. "Now, if you'll excuse me, it looks like my torturer has returned."

"But sire..."

"Damaras has served my family for generations!" Vekar told her bluntly. "I trust him with my empire! That is my final word!"

As she left the room, leaving Prince Vekar to his workout, she shook her head.

"That's exactly what I'm worried about." She muttered.

Down in the city, Noah and Orion were in the back of a yellow hummer as Captain Mitchell drove them through the streets, heading somewhere they could talk.

"I thought the bracelets couldn't be removed!" Noah commented.

"Angela's nothing if not creative." Captain Mitchell said with a smile.

"It seems the Prince is more than a little sexist." Carter stated. "He knew the Captain here was our mentor, but he didn't realise Angela was the one that made everything."

"She was the only one that wasn't being tracked." Ryan clarified. "So, she did a few tests, and some other stuff...that I have no idea what she was talking about...the point is, she figured out a way to take the bracelets off."

"So why not take them off everyone?" Troy asked.

"Vekar's been listening in on us for months! He'd find it suspicious if we just...disappeared." Captain Mitchell explained. "That was when I came up with the idea of our untimely demise."

"We figured that being in the fire service no one would be too suspicious if we bought the big one." Ryan told them. "So, we died...the bracelets were taken off and put onto real corpses, freeing us up to work in the underground."

"Underground?" Noah asked. Captain Mitchell just smiled.

"You'll see." With that, even though he seemed to be heading for a brick wall, he gunned the engine. Noah and Orion both held up their hands, covering their faces in a futile gesture. They were both surprised that they seemed to pass through it with no resistance, and a flicker of light. As Noah finally allowed himself a look, he found that they were in a tunnel, one that appeared to go downwards at a steep taper.

"How did...?"

"A hologram." Noah said with a smile. "You covered the entrance to the tunnel with a hologram."

"We've got a few such entrances around the city." Captain Mitchell explained.

"How does one build such a thing without being seen?" Orion asked them. "Even an Andresian building team of a hundred would take years to carve..."

"Because it was here all along." Noah said, looking to Carter. "Because when it was decommissioned, I bet it was considered too costly to dismantle it."

"You know our government too well." Carter chuckled. "We were sworn to secrecy, and the entrances blocked. It was actually surprisingly simple to open them up again."

"The entrances to what?" Orion asked.

"The Aquabase!" Noah said as the taper of the tunnel evened out, and opened up into a long, glass lined tube, allowing them to see that they were now underneath the ocean. Orion looked up, seeing the base before them, and marvelled at it. There had never been such a creation on Andresia. He could hardly believe it was possible that something the size of his whole village had been built beneath the ocean.

"It's not much anymore, but its home." Carter announced. "And it does allow a certain level of privacy."

"That's just as well." Noah replied. "We've got something important we need to discuss with you."

"We had a feeling this day would come sooner or later." Ryan replied. "But let's get inside first."

With that, he pressed a button on the dashboard, at which the large doors ahead of them opened up, allowing them into the base.

Back at the water park, Jake and Emma were struggling to keep pace with the White Mystic Ranger and the Wolf Warrior. For all their efforts, the two Ranger puppets were a lot stronger than they had anticipated. Jake hit the Wolf Warrior's shield with a flying kick, but rebounded off the shield, landing on the ground, and wincing slightly. His sudden stop had made him feel like his knee and his hip were about to explode.

"We could really use Noah's new toy right about now." Jake commented as he pulled out another Ranger Key, turning into the Green Mystic Ranger. "Or a damned big can opener! Mystic Muscles!"

He hit the keys on his morpher, and felt himself infused with power, his chest, shoulders and arms doubling in size in an instant. Smashing his axe into the Wold Warrior's shield, he smiled as he saw that for once, it was the Wolf Warrior who was pushed back.

Emma had also gone the route of utilising a little extra power from a former Ranger key...in her case; she had opted for the speed and strength of the White Wild Force Ranger, hoping to overwhelm her up close, eliminating the advantage of her spells. After a moment though, the Ranger puppets suddenly stopped, and looking at each other, they suddenly turned and left.

"Hey, come back!" Emma called out. "That's it? You're just going to leave? What gives?"

"Uh...Emma? Why are you exactly complaining about the fact they're leaving?" Jake asked her. While he knew that they would have to defeat them at some point, and take them into their collection of keys, they still had to remember their primary objective had been to rescue Chad.

"I guess you're right." She sighed as she helped Chad up. "So, are you alright?"

"Nothing that won't heal." He grumbled. "I'm guessing those weren't the good guys."

"Hold on." Jake told him, approaching him. He took Chad's wrist, reminding them of the tracking bracelet. It had a microphone, so The Armada would hear everything they said. "You're coming with us, whether you like it or not!"

Using the strength offered to him by his Mystic Muscles, Jake tore the bracelet apart, throwing the pieces dismissively away. He knew he had to make it sound like Chad was being kidnapped for the time being. While they could worry about getting him into hiding afterwards, they couldn't exactly leave him without any way of defending himself. If The Armada caught up to him, they would undoubtedly take him into custody for aiding and abetting fugitives, presuming they didn't just execute him on the spot.

"Thanks for that." Chad stated. "I was growing tired of the new jewellery."

"We need to get you back to the ship." Emma told them. "We can check on your injuries there."

"Hold up, I just need to get something first." Chad told them. He started to head for a tropical fish exhibit. As they got there, they saw him coming to a tank. "My understanding is you're searching for Ranger Keys."

"Yeah, that's right." Emma answered. "We were hoping..."

"When we found our keys, knowing that we were all being traced, we figured it was safest if we split them up. Each of us stashed our own key somewhere." Chad told them as he pointed to the tank. Jake approached slowly, and looked through the glass. There, nestled between to stones, was the Blue Lightspeed Ranger key.

"You hid it in a fish tank?" Jake asked him.

"Not just any fish tank." Chad said with a smile. He pointed to the sign.

"Piranha fish?" Jake asked incredulously. "You put it in a tank of Piranha fish?"

"That's...that's actually pretty smart." Emma complimented him as she approached. "Even if someone did notice it, who would be in a hurry to stick their hand in there?"

"I'm kind of bruised and scratched up from the fight." Chad told them. "If I stick my hand in there, the blood will be like catnip to them. One of you has to get the key out."

"You want me to stick my hand in there?" Jake asked.

"The suit should protect us." She reminded him. She had studied a lot of species of the Amazon, and it was her sincerest wish to go there one day. There were literally hundreds of species of plants and animals that simply didn't exist anywhere else on Earth. Even though she knew that the suit would protect her if the fish DID bite, and that it would probably hide the smell of her blood, she was still a little hesitant as she put her hand into the tank. She picked out the key, and shook it off, putting it away in her pocket as she de-morphed.

"Alright, that's one down." Jake stated. "Now, let's get out of here before they decide to come back."

"The Red Galleon's this way." Emma told Chad as they led him out of the water park. "We can get you cleaned up there."

On the Red Galleon at that point, Gia was cleaning up some of Kelsey's wounds as Troy de-activated and removed her bracelet. As Gia pressed a cotton bud, soaked in rubbing alcohol on a nasty gash in Kelsey's cheek, the former Yellow Ranger winced.

"Sorry." Gia told her. "I have to make sure we've cleaned it up properly."

"Yeah, this was always the part I hated about extreme sports." Kelsey told her. "Trust me, I've looked worse."

Gia just smiled hearing this.

"Somehow I doubt that." She whispered under her breath. Kelsey just looked at her.

"What was that?" She asked.

"Oh...um...nothing." Gia responded. "I was just saying...I think you should be fine. It looks like your ankle is only sprained."

"There's nothing broken." Tensou assured her, after giving her a quick scan. "I don't know how..."

"I've got a habit of getting out of close calls." Kelsey chuckled. "Chad always said I was quick-thinking enough to get myself out of anything, which is just as well since I was usually dumb enough to get myself into them in the first place."

"Does that sound familiar?" Tensou asked. Gia just glared at him. "I'm leaving now."

"So, Chad...he was on your team?" Gia asked.

"Yeah, he was our Blue Ranger." She told her. "We were really close at the time. He's easily the best friend I ever had."

"Well, Jake and Emma are bringing him back here." Troy told her. "I've yet to hear from Noah and Orion."

"Well, at least we've found two of you." Gia remarked. "So...um...we kind of have to ask..."

"You're looking for our Ranger Keys." Kelsey surmised. "That was what Lafitte said he was after."

"We need to collect all the keys if we're going to defeat The Armada for good." Troy told her. "We've been tracking down the keys all year. If you could..."

"Hey, hey...if it wasn't for you guys, I'd still be dangling from that tree remember?" She asked. "That or Lafitte would have me. I don't think he was planning on taking me for a pleasure cruise."

"So you'll give us your key?" Gia asked. Kelsey just nodded, pulling a necklace out from inside her t-shirt. She handed it to Gia, who saw that it was a key.

"My family's had a security deposit box in the Mariner Bay Central Bank for as long as I can remember." She informed them. "I put it in there for safe keeping."

"Then we'll need to go and get it." Troy told her. "But for now, let's try and find the others. The fact is, we all know who they are because of those bracelets, and Lafitte and The Armada have a lot more people to dedicate to the search."

"There's a disturbance at the air field!" Tensou screeched, flying back into the room.

"Joel!" Kelsey screamed. "He's doing a show there today!"

"No rest for the wicked." Gia muttered.

"I'll set a course for the air strip. You try and raise the others and tell them to meet us there!" Troy instructed her. "I have a feeling we're going to need all the help we can get!"

Over at the air strip, Joel could only watch as the two factions fell upon each other. The Ranger Puppets were tearing into The Armada forces in a deadly battle that would decide their fate. It didn't take a genius to realise that whichever side won, it would not be good news for Joel and his family.

"We need to get out of here." He told his wife. "You and Sean stay here. I'm going to try and get to a plane."

"Joel..."

"Do you have a better idea?" He asked her. Angela struggled to think of one, but the door was over a hundred feet away. There was no way they would get there before one of the many enemies currently battling for their fate would get to them. She just sighed and looked to him.

"Just...try to be careful." She told him.

"Be ready to follow me once I've got it cranked up." He told her. As he broke cover and ran, he had to duck and dive as blasts narrowly missed him. As he approached the plane, he could see that the battle was starting to shift. Although The Armada had numbers on their side, the Black Lion Warrior, Chameleon Warrior and Red Samurai Ranger were starting to take a real toll on their numbers.

As he got to the plane though, he saw something that pretty much turned the tide. Having broken off from their own battles, the other Ranger puppets, Lafitte and Colo had turned up at the hangar. As he started trying to crank up the engines, he could only watch as the nine Ranger puppets and Colo made short work of the remaining droids. The Commander started backing away from them, backing into a corner as Lafitte looked to her.

"Well, I suppose it was inevitable that I'd be seeing Vekar's cronies again sooner or later." He said arrogantly. He looked to the plane. "Colo, be so kind as to get that would you?"

The gorilla ran at the plane and leapt at it, tearing one of the wings clean off the plane in one go. Joel struggled to get the other engines to start up, but he looked up to see the Sentinel Knight and Blue Centurion had seized his wife and son. Before the door was ripped off the plane, he knew that he no longer had any options. If he didn't want to put them in danger, he had no options. He held up his hands, surrendering as Colo dragged him from the plane.

"Do you think I'm just going to let you walk out of here with him?" The Commander screamed at Lafitte as she saw them with the prisoners. Lafitte just laughed.

"No, I don't think you'll LET me do anything." Lafitte told her. "I don't think you'll have much choice in the matter."

"You wouldn't be so tough without your Ranger Puppets!" She screamed at him. He just smiled and held up a hand as they were about to close in.

"Is that what you really think?" He asked her. "Do you really think I earned an unlimited reward by raiding a few ships?"

His eyes started to glow, and energy flared up around him as he started to change form. It was the last thing she ever saw.


	6. Hangar Aftermath

Noah and Orion looked around the Aquabase, completely in awe of what Carter, Ryan and Captain Mitchell had created. Well, strictly speaking, they hadn't created it, they had repurposed it. When Lightspeed had disbanded a few years after their tenure, and the team went their separate ways, the Government had shut the facility down, but they hadn't dismantled it. It wasn't because they had intended to keep it around for future use or anything, it was just decided it would be too dangerous, time-consuming, and most importantly, too expensive to go about the practicalities of dismantling the base.

Looking around, Noah could see much of the hardware was still present, but a lot of the effective components lacked power, and lay inert. It looked like the Government had removed most of the software, ammunition, and a few key components required to make it work, before they sealed the tunnels and disallowed knowledge of the base's exact location. Of course, the citizens of Mariner Bay knew that the Aquabase HAD existed beneath the ocean, but most of them believed it had been completely dismantled, and the few conspiracy theory lovers that DID believe it still existed...well...it wasn't like most people had deep-sea submarines to go looking for it.

"I can see why you came back here." Noah commented, checking out the hardware. They hadn't managed to get a lot of it back online, but they had quite a bit. By the looks of things, they had been very busy trying to activate a lot of the computers and weapons. He picked up a blaster, inspecting it with a smile.

"We knew if we were going to make a move we'd need more than a winning smile and courage." Carter chuckled, taking the blaster off him, and putting the safety switch back on. "Trust me, that thing has a heck of a kick without the Ranger suits. It takes some getting used to."

"I can't believe someone was careless enough to leave all of this just lying around." Orion stated with a little bit of derision in his voice. "Back home whenever tools or weapons became dangerous or obsolete, we melted them down completely and re-forged them as Orelia commanded."

"Who's the new guy?" Ryan asked, flicking a thumb in Orion's direction. Noah remembered the grave marker and realised they had 'died' before Orion joined the team. It seemed they weren't up to speed on the latest developments of the new team. They were aware there was a Silver Ranger, but didn't know anything about him.

"I'm guessing Orelia's one of your Gods?" Noah asked. Orion just nodded.

"Godess of the forge." He informed him. "She was the one that taught my people to reform metals into tools, weapons and armour and preached the ways of adaptation and formlessness. Once something is no longer fit for purpose, instead of discarding it, it is re-shaped into something more suitable."

"Orion's not from here." Noah explained. "He's from another planet, called Andresia. There's been a few...culture issues."

Noah looked to Orion.

"On Earth, we don't re-form everything. Sometimes, things are judged to be too dangerous or troublesome to re-forge." He explained. "Ask Emma, she'll tell you all about how careless people can be with their waste."

"But these things are weapons!" Orion put down flatly. "Who would be foolish enough to simply leave weapons lying around for anyone to find?"

Carter, Ryan and Captain Mitchell just looked to each other a little awkwardly. Having been Government employees, they knew that this wasn't an issue any Government could claim innocence on that front. A common practice when pulling out of a war zone was for the departing army to leave most of their munitions behind! It was cheaper to order new stock from the manufacturer than pay for them to be taken home.

"Well, it's just as well it wasn't destroyed." Carter said, trying to change the subject. "It's taken a while, but we've been re-activating as much of it as we can."

"How?" Noah asked.

"It's amazing what you can do in a year when you don't have the distraction of a civilian life." Ryan answered. "Of course, we did have some help from someone a LOT smarter than us."

"Mrs Rollins has been kind enough to offer some assistance re-activate some of this equipment." Captain Mitchell explained.

"Rollins...as in Joel Rollins?" Noah asked. Captain Mitchell just nodded in response.

"Joel's wife Angela used to be our tech expert back in the day." He continued. "Fortunately Vekar was too ignorant to find that out. She's been helping us under the table with this. In time, it was our intention to bring in the rest of the team."

"Today was the day for Joel to join us." Ryan informed them. "The air show was meant to end with a bang, if you catch our drift."

Just then, Noah and Orion's morphers bleeped, just as Carter got a message on his computer.

"Noah, we need your help at the air strip!" Gia rushed out. "One of the Lightspeed guys is caught in the middle of some major fireworks down there."

"The air-strip! There's some kind of attack!" Carter called out as he read the computer screen.

"OK, I find it hard to believe this is a coincidence." Noah remarked. "We'll be there in a few."

As Noah and Orion were about to run out, Carter whistled, causing them to stop. He gestured to the jeep.

"We'll give you a lift." He told them. "Joel's on our team!"

"Look, that Rescue Armour was good, but without Ranger Powers..."

"Powers or not, we do NOT leave team members behind if we have a choice." Ryan put down flatly. As Orion looked to Ryan, Noah could see some form of recognition. They still didn't fully understand the connection he had to the Sixth Rangers though his morpher. None of the others seemed to share that connection with their predecessors.

"We could use a ride." He stated. "They did help us before."

Noah wasn't entirely convinced by this idea, but he could see Orion wasn't going to be swayed. Besides, they WERE a long way from the air strip. He just sighed.

"Alright, but you let us do the heavy lifting." Noah told them as they got into the jeep and gunned the engine.

Meanwhile, over at the air strip, Gia and Jake were the first to arrive. They knew that Emma and Jake had to get Chad onto the Red Galleon where he'd be safe before they could join them. As they got to the air strip, the place was eerily silent. There were clouds of thick, black smoke coming from one of the hangars, a sure-fire sign that was where they would find the scene of the battle.

They doubted the others would be long, but between the silence and the smoke, things were not looking good for what they would find. As they went to the entrance to the hangar, they each took up position at the opposite edges of the entrance. Troy indicated a three count, before they swung around, looking inside.

Troy and Gia could hardly believe what they saw. The ground was littered with the leftover scrap of a large force of Armada troops. It wasn't as if it wasn't something they hadn't seen before, they had sent more than a few to the recycling bin in their time, but this just seemed different. There were damaged planes among the wreckage, and the robots seemed to be more than just disabled...the ground crunched underfoot with broken pieces as they made their way through.

"What the hell happened in here?" Gia asked.

"Lafitte's never been interested in sharing." Troy reminded her. As he came close to the wall, he noticed something different. There was something on the ground, but it didn't look like wrecked machinery. There was a distinct smell, and as he looked, it seemed distinctly...biological. He approached, and moved aside some wreckage finding a sight that made him feel ill.

"Is that...?"

"I'm guessing this was Vekar's latest Commander." Troy told her. "Well...what's left of her anyway."

Just then, Jake and Emma arrived. They too were looking around, unable to believe the scene of destruction around them.

"OK, what was this?" Jake asked.

"It was a massacre." Troy told them. "They were completely overwhelmed."

"With all those Ranger Puppets and that massive ape on his side, I'm not surprised." Jake said with a low whistle as he stood in something that squelched underfoot. He looked to it and balked. "Ugh...I think this was part of her!"

"It's not like Lafitte to leave bodies on the ground." Gia stated. "What made him change his game plan?"

"I guess his employer's finally started paying him to kick things up a notch." Emma answered. They all looked around as they heard a jeep arriving. They saw Noah and Orion arriving with three other men. They were vaguely familiar, but they didn't really know who they were.

"Joel!" Carter called out as he and Ryan ran into the room, looking around in a panic. "What happened?"

"Lafitte." Troy said, making both Noah and Orion look to him in shock. "None of us were anywhere near here; he's the only one that could have done this."

"Wow, he wasn't kidding when he said he was holding back." Noah commented. "I've not seen him do anything like this."

"So, who are these guys?" Gia asked.

"Carter Grayson, former Lightspeed Red Ranger." Carter introduced himself. "This is Ryan, former Titanium Ranger, and Captain Mitchell."

"Joel was getting set to disappear today." Ryan told them. "He was planning to fake his death along with his wife and kid to get rid of the tracking bracelet."

"We should look around; see if we can see any signs of them." Captain Mitchell told them, starting to sift through some wreckage. The others followed suit, more than a little fearful about what they might find.

Meanwhile, up on The Armada Command Ship, Lavira was keeping track of the events down below from her lab. Her read-out had gone haywire when the battle at the hangar began. The troops they had sent down had fallen in short order. She couldn't bring up any of them; each and every one of them had been destroyed by Lafitte and his forces.

As for Gorea, the Commander that had been sent with them, she had tried and failed to raise her on her communicator. Gorea was a Commander that hailed from the same world as Vekar, a noble woman who had served them as a general for some time. There was word that her father had sent her to serve in his campaign, while he negotiated with Vekar to expand his power base further. There were rumours that there were even negotiations concerning a possible marriage. Vekar had never shown an interest in marriage before. As the rightful heir, needless to say he'd had plenty of offers, but he had never particularly cared for courting. His main passion in his life was sadism. He had loved nothing more than inflicting suffering on lower beings, ever since the days as a child, when he tortured small animals for amusement. His campaign of conquest was as much of a way of indulging his cruel nature as it was keeping far away enough from home that he wouldn't have to listen to his advisors and nobles planning to marry him off to every available woman of high enough birth on his world.

Lavira felt no love for Gorea, but she had to wonder how Lafitte had managed to destroy her so easily. Vrak had battled the Rangers for close to a year, and he was close to destroying them all, even after being almost completely destroyed and rebuilt as a cyborg. Gorea was widely considered to be remarkably powerful among her kind. If she had fallen to Lafitte...what kind of new power did he have at his disposal?

She took her tablet, after downloading her new files, and immediately went in search of the Prince. She needed to know how he would feel about how things were running under Damaras' command in his absence.

She went to the gym, looking for him, only to find it empty...although now it was also spotlessly clean! She smiled as she looked around. Given how filthy it was before after years of neglect, she could only presume that he'd had quite a workout cleaning up under Argus' merciless training to remove his extra weight.

"Computer, where is the Prince?" She asked.

"Prince Vekar and Argus went to the kitchen." The computer informed her.

She left the room, heading back into the halls, and made her way past all the robots milling around in search of the Prince. When she finally got to the kitchen, she saw him sitting at a table, his t-shirt and sweat pants covered in grime and sweat. He was slumped over the table, his arm shakily holding himself up as he rested his chin on it. She just smiled.

"It looks like you've been working hard." She complimented him.

"I still say that Argus is a lunatic!" He complained. "You've no idea what he made me do! The things...there were things...LIVING in that filth!"

"I'm guessing it hasn't affected your appetite." She stated as she heard his stomach letting out a huge gurgling sound. He smiled to hear her speak of eating.

"You have no idea!" He told her. "I'm STARVING after all that work! I can't wait to sink my teeth into a slow roasted horse! With some deep fried onion rings...and a thick gravy!"

"Well, before you eat, I wanted to bring you some troubling news." She told him. He looked to her as she put the tablet down in front of him. He looked to the files and furrowed his brows.

"Gorea is dead?" He asked her.

"She fell by Lafitte's hand." She told him. "Damaras sent her with a squadron..."

"He destroyed them ALL?" Vekar demanded. Lavira just nodded.

"Your Highness, I know you want to continue with your...project." She said cautiously. "But I cannot help feeling this would not have happened had you not left Damaras in charge."

"You're right." Prince Vekar mused for a moment. "Remind me to promote him when I return to command."

"I beg your pardon?" Lavira gasped.

"Gorea was powerful, that much is true...but she was always so irritating!" He told her. "She wouldn't shut up about her accomplishments; batting her eyelashes at me...she was always fishing to become my bride."

"And...that wasn't appealing to you?" Lavira asked him. "You will have to provide an heir at some point."

"Any offspring of hers would have been insufferable brats." She told his science officer. "When I do sire my progeny, they will be loyal, obedient...worthy of my name."

"I suppose there is time for you to find a consort." She answered. "But he did lose some valuable..."

"Damaras is a proven tactical genius, and completely loyal to my family. He served my father for years and practically doubled the size of the empire."

"But Your Highness..."

"Give him time, his strategies often involve gambits." He assured her. "He knows which pieces to sacrifice for victory."

She wasn't convinced, but knew the Prince was not going to be swayed. Perhaps later once he had eaten and rested, she could try again to voice her suspicions. Just then, Argus came in, carrying a dish with a large closh over it. Vekar immediately perked up, and started rubbing his hands together gleefully.

"Oh boy, this is it!" He squealed in delight. "I am so hungry, I could..."

As the closh was removed though, his face fell. His nose wrinkled, and he just stared at the plate. Lavira stared at it too.

"What the hell is that?" He demanded, prodding the contents of his dish with a spoon. It was a damned good question; even with her extensive knowledge of chemistry Lavira had no idea what it was. It was a kind of brown, pasty sludge with little lumps in it. It looked, and smelled, a lot like what he had been cleaning up in the gym.

"It is a vegetable based stew." Argus told him. "It has been prepared with an optimal mix of vitamins, minerals and proteins with minimal fat and calorie count."

"But..."

"You asked me to help you lose the weight as quickly as possible." Argus reminded him. Prince Vekar tentatively put his spoon in the mixture, taking a scrape of it that barely coated the edge, and put it in his mouth. He threw down his spoon with a clatter.

"It's disgusting!" He screamed incredulously. "I...I can't eat that!"

"Perhaps this will help wash it down." Argus suggested, presenting him with some water. The Prince just looked at it, then back at him.

"I asked for..."

"What you asked for was full of empty calories that would have delayed your return to your desired physical condition." Argus interrupted him. "You agreed."

Prince Vekar just sighed and looked to Lavira.

"You will need all your strength for afternoon training." Argus told him. Prince Vekar just nodded in understanding.

"Return to your post...report any news to me." He sighed in a defeated manner. Lavira just nodded and left the room, closing the door behind her. Prince Vekar took a spoonful, and forced it down, his face contorting as though he was suffering unimaginable torture. If this was what it took to get back into shape, the sooner he could get his obsessive henchman off his back, the better.


	7. Joel's Plight

The Rangers arrived back on the Red Galleon, finding Chad being cleaned up after his battle by Tensou. Kelsey looked like she was having a fit as she watched Tensou clean up his minor injuries. The fact was that her injuries were much worse than his by a significant margin. Even a cursory glance was enough to see that, but she had always fussed over Chad. Seeing the Rangers arriving, they turned their attention towards them.

"Joel?" Kelsey asked.

"We were too late." Troy replied. As soon as he saw the look on Chad and Kelsey's faces, he realised that he had chosen his words carelessly. "No, that is...um..."

"We didn't find any sign of them." Noah clarified. "It looks like Lafitte took them with him."

"At this point, no news is good news." Gia said sympathetically. Although they didn't want to elaborate, everyone knew what she meant. Until they found bodies, there was at least a slim chance that they were still alive. How long that remained the case was another matter. Having seen what Lafitte's forces had done to the Armada forces at the Hangar, it seemed he was no longer exactly squeamish about leaving bodies on the ground.

"We'll do all we can to find them." Carter declared as he walked into the room with Ryan and Captain Mitchell. Kelsey and Chad just looked up to them in shock.

"Carter?" Kelsey asked. He just smiled.

"Are you happy to see us?" He asked. Kelsey just picked up a pad and threw it at him. He sighed. "I guess not."

"We went to your funeral!" She screamed at him.

"You didn't tell them?" Gia asked. Carter just shrugged.

"We figured it was safer if the others didn't know until we contacted them." He protested.

"With the tracking bracelets, we couldn't take the chance someone would say something by accident that gave the game away." Ryan added. Kelsey walked over, shoving Carter roughly.

"Do you have ANY idea what that did to us?" She yelled at him. "What have you been doing all this time? Living it up while all of us had to deal with your death?"

"Kelsey, it's not like that." Ryan assured her. "We did this, all of this...so we could be free of the tracking bracelets. We've been setting up the Aquabase for us to use to join the underground."

"And in the meantime all of us just dealt with the fact you were dead?" Kelsey demanded.

"Actually...the plan was to bring you in eventually." Captain Mitchell explained as he approached. "We just knew too many questions would be asked if we all 'died' at the same time. Joel's family was at the hangar because...it was his turn."

"Joel was going to fake his death?" Chad asked them. Carter just nodded.

"That was the plan." He answered. "We thought it was the safest way for him to disappear."

"Well, good job on that!" Kelsey said sarcastically as she stormed off. Gia looked to the others.

"I'll go with her." She assured them, heading out of the room with them. Carter looked a little sheepish as Chad stared at him with his arms folded defiantly.

"OK, I get this is a thing." Jake said, interjecting himself between them. "But the two of you can either stand around glaring at each other, or you can find your friend and bring him back safely. What would you prefer?"

Chad didn't seem at all happy with this turn of events, but he just unfolded his arms and looked to Troy.

"Alright, what can we do to help?" He asked.

"That's just the thing; we really don't know where to start." Noah said honestly. "There's one more key to find, so it's probably for the best we send someone to check on that."

"There's no sign of Armada forces, they're probably licking their wounds." Troy stated. "Lafitte...he's a little trickier. He's pretty good at covering his tracks."

"Pretty good? His cloaking technology is way beyond anything we have." Noah grumbled. "He could be parked right outside and we wouldn't know until he knocked on the door. He doesn't show up a signal anywhere."

"Well, the last tracking bracelet's signal is still active." Jake commented. "We should send..."

"Carter, you know who you're looking for, she was on your team." Troy stated as he looked to him. "I'll take Orion and Emma with me. We can't discount the possibility of trouble. Noah, keep looking for any sign of The Fancy."

With that, Troy, Orion, Emma and Carter left the room. Noah just groaned and threw up his hands.

"Yeah, look for an invisible ship, THAT should be no problem at all!" He responded as he went to his workbench to begin the unenviable task of tracking down Lafitte's hidden ship.

At that moment, on The Fancy, Colo was dragging Angela through the corridors, her son Sean slung over his shoulder. The young boy was screaming obscenities that under any other circumstances would have seen him grounded for a considerable length of time as he hammered into the gorilla's armour with his fists and feet to absolutely no effect. Feeling Colo's strength through his grip on her wrist, Angela was certain that with his muscle density, even if he WASN'T wearing armour, her son's brave attempts to fight would still have been completely futile. As they got to a door, Colo pressed a button, opening it, before grabbing her son in one hand, and launching him at alarming speed through the door, slamming him into the wall at the rear of the cell.

"Sean!" She screamed in anguish. As soon as Colo let go of her wrist, she ran straight into the cell to her son's side, completely ignoring the fact that put her right into the cell without a fight. Colo pressed a button, closing and locking the door behind her as Angela tended to Sean. She could see him favouring his left arm as she turned him over.

"It's alright, let me see." She told him. The boy allowed his mom to check on him as she had done many times. In a lot of ways, Sean took after his dad. Although he was smart, and had a certain affinity for science and maths at school, he seemed to completely forget all about physics equations in deciding how much danger he put himself in when he was playing. Angela knew that Sean idolised his father, the Sky Cowboy, his eyes lighting up whenever Joel told him his stories about all the death-defying stunts he had pulled in planes. Telling him about his past as a Ranger had not helped matters in the slightest, now Joel was a super-hero to his son! It meant that often Sean took a lot more risks than Angela would like. She satisfied herself that his arm wasn't broken, and rested him up against the wall.

"What are they doing to dad?" He asked her. "Where's dad?"

"I don't know sweetheart." She told him. "But you know your dad; you know he's always come back right?"

"I want my dad, I want to see dad!" He pressed on. "What are they doing to him?"

Angela didn't want to answer that. She had already guessed from the fact Lafitte had taken them with him that he wanted something from them. She had already guessed what it was, and since they had seen first-hand what Lafitte had done in the hangar, she had a feeling he wasn't exactly squeamish about what he might have to do to convince Joel to give him what he wanted.

"Are you alright?" She asked Sean. The boy just nodded. The kid had a lot of admirable qualities that he had inherited from his parents. From his dad, he had courage to spare, and a body that seemed to bounce more than it broke. Given all the times he had been to the emergency room, she was amazed he hadn't ended up with a catalogue of broken bones, never mind escaping without a single fracture. Sometimes, she was convinced her son and her husband were made of iron. She smiled.

"I just need to do something, and I'll need you to listen to me alright?" She asked. Sean just nodded. "Now, wait right here, and be ready to move when I tell you."

"But what about dad?" He asked. "Why aren't we waiting for him?"

Angela knew that Sean had all the fantasies of his father as a super-hero. He was probably expecting Joel to fight off Lafitte and all his puppets single-handed, and open the door to take them away any minute. As much as Angela knew he would certainly try, she had a healthy dose of reality in her mind. Without powers or allies, she knew that he could use all the help he could get.

She got to the control panel at the door, and reached into her clutch bag. One thing had always annoyed her during her career. Because of her appearance, a lot of people judged her and didn't believe in her abilities. Right back to when she first started university, people took one look at her and thought of her as a pretty face and nothing else. Even when she'd managed to earn two PhD's and three Masters degrees by the time she was thirty, a lot of people still never thought of her as anything other than a secretary. Her appointment at Lightspeed had been largely down to Captain Mitchell seeing her potential. Of course, it did have its advantages at times. She hadn't been fitted with a tracking bracelet like the others, likely for the same reason Lafitte hadn't searched her before sending her to a cell. Obviously their opponents had underestimated her and hadn't considered that she was a brilliant mind in her own right.

Like any good engineer, she always carried a modest toolkit with her. Reaching into her handbag, she pulled out a small, leather case, which she opened, exposing an extensive collection of small screwdrivers of various sizes, and some other assorted tools. Taking one, she started to work, taking the control panel off the wall. As she removed it, she just shook her head.

"I guess even advanced alien races have cowboy tradesmen." She commented as she started to get to work on the wiring.

Back on the Red Galleon, Gia found Kelsey out on the deck, sitting up on the edge of the railing. She wasn't just resting on it; both feet were off the ground, and lying along the railing. Gia couldn't help feeling more than a little nervous as she approached.

"You look like Chad when you look at me like that." Kelsey commented. Gia just looked a little surprised.

"It's...kind of hard not to be nervous when you're that close to the edge." Gia commented. "You know we are hundreds of feet up right?"

"I'm not scared of heights." Kelsey said with a little laugh. "It's the sudden stop at the end that's a bitch."

Kelsey genuinely had no fear of heights whatsoever. Her years of rock climbing had taken any kind of fear out of her. It wasn't as though she was careless; she just had a lot of confidence in her balance and spatial awareness. Although the railing was only a few inches across, she could sit there most of the day without any fear of falling, and she knew it. Gia started to close in.

"Would you...you know...mind humouring me?" Gia asked her. Kelsey just swung her legs around and hopped off the rail. Gia came closer.

"Look, that thing with your friends...that's pretty messed up." Gia told her.

"Carter always was the leader, even when he didn't have a team." Kelsey commented. "I just can't believe Ryan though...or Captain Mitchell! Dana lived for her family."

"I guess they figured that the Earth is worth fighting for, even if they had to give up their lives to do it." Gia replied. Kelsey just sighed and shook her head.

"It's not that. If they'd approached me, if they'd asked me...I'd have come in a heartbeat." Kelsey admitted. "But I went to their funeral! I watched them being buried, all those people making speeches about all the amazing things they'd done...I can't believe they let me...let any of us do that, knowing what it would do to us."

"They thought it was the best way to keep you all safe." Gia answered. "Those bracelets put you all at risk; you couldn't have done anything while wearing them."

"I know, it's just...I had to face it, you know?" Kelsey asked her. "I've lost them and moved on once...now we have to join in a war effort and I know I might have to do that all again."

"I really don't have any answers for you about that." Gia told her. "In all honesty, I have no idea how I'd begin to handle it if I lost anyone."

"I know I should be stoked they're back. I know I should be glad they're here but, there's a part of me that's just angry." Kelsey told her. "I'm angry they did that to me."

"Don't you mean 'to us'?" Gia asked her. Kelsey just looked at her curiously. "You and Chad I mean?"

"Me and Chad?" Kelsey asked.

"I kind of got a vibe there." Gia told her. Kelsey just let out a small laugh.

"No, it's...it's not that." Kelsey told her. "At one time, yes, but not anymore."

"Really?" Gia asked her. "What happened?"

"Let's just say you and I have a lot more in common than you think." Kelsey replied with a smile. Gia looked at her for a moment, before Kelsey just nodded. "We were really close, we were actually engaged for a while, but in the end I just realised, if I couldn't make it work with Chad, if it wasn't right with someone as sweet and caring as him, then...it was never going to work with anyone."

"You mean you're...?"

"Not all of us are lucky enough to figure it out as early as you." Kelsey interrupted her. Gia just smiled.

"Who told...?"

"I kind of saw the way you were looking at me earlier." Kelsey told her. "It was hard to miss."

"I'm sorry; I didn't mean anything by it." Gia responded.

"Don't be, it's a compliment." Kelsey assured her. "But I'm sure there's someone your own age that will really deserve you."

"I thought there was." Gia admitted, gesturing around the ship. "But she dumped me when things got tough. She said she couldn't handle all this."

"That's pretty rough." Kelsey admitted. "Have you spoken to her since?"

"We don't really call home much." Gia told her.

"You mean you've never been tempted to google her or anything?" Kelsey asked.

"I'm trying to move on here!" Gia chastised her.

"I know, but...in this day and age of Facebook and stuff like that, aren't you even curious?" Kelsey asked.

"I figured it was best to just let things lie." Gia told her. "It hurts enough knowing she went with someone else..."

"Well, Chad didn't speak to me for almost a year after I told him." Kelsey told her. "But over time, some of that old stuff came back. I'm not saying we're ever going to...you know...but we were such great friends, we were so close...neither of us could lose that. Now, we're closer than ever."

"Well, the situation's a little different." Gia responded.

"Is it?" Kelsey asked her. "This girl..."

"Cat." Gia told her.

"Cat...she has to have been hurting too. Nobody walks away from something like that without a few scars."

"She's with someone else." Gia reminded her. "She said it was over..."

"And how was she when she said that?" Kelsey asked her.

"She was pretty upset telling me it was over." Gia conceded. "She couldn't stop crying, she looked so broken...but I guess Tamsin..."

"Well, have you ever considered the fact that if it was tough on her, maybe she was thinking it was tough on you too?" Kelsey asked her. Gia just shook her head.

"She said there was someone else." Gia reminded her.

"Did you ask her?" Kelsey asked in response. Gia didn't answer. The last thing she wanted to do was talk to Tamsin as they were leaving the apartment. Her heart was in pieces when Cat had ended their relationship. Kelsey smiled at her. "I'm not trying to give you false hope, but if Cat meant so much to you, don't you think it might be worth...checking a few things out?"

Gia didn't know how to respond. Kelsey came over, kissing her softly on the cheek, before heading back down below to help with the search in any way she could.

Meanwhile, on The Fancy, Lafitte was sitting on a chair, with a jewelled dagger in one hand, cutting a segment out of an apple and eating it as he watched two of his Ranger puppets extending some of his 'hospitality' to Joel.

The Wolf Warrior and the Shadow Ranger were taking turns, throwing Joel between them, hitting him with hard punches and kicks as he staggered back and forth. For a while he had tried to fight back, but now if he did swing for one of them, he was in more danger of hitting the ceiling than one of them. His clothes were torn, and covered in blood. Lafitte just watched on as they continued, eating his apple, showing the same compassion for Joel as he did for his apple. He had encountered man Rangers on his journey, and he had found them to be nothing if not stubborn. Even with no powers and outnumbered, they still insisted on fighting. He just needed to wait until he had worn him down enough. He hadn't found the Ranger Key on Joel, so he needed to hear where he had hidden it.

As the Shadow Ranger grabbed Joel, holding him upright, the Wolf Warrior hit him with a massive hook, sending him sprawling to the floor as blood sprayed the floor. Lafitte held up a hand to instruct them to stop. He came over, bending down to pick something up, and continued on his way.

"That's enough, hold him." He told them. "He isn't going to be saying much if you smash his jaw is he?"

He knelt down next to Joel as the two puppets held him on his knees. He lifted Joel's head up to face him.

"I believe these are yours." Lafitte said casually, showing him a couple of his own teeth. Joel just glared at him. "Tell you what, how about we put them here for safe keeping?"

He placed the teeth in Joel's shirt pocket as the Wolf Warrior held his face, forcing him to look into Lafitte's face.

"It doesn't have to be this way." He explained. "I don't WANT to hurt you if I don't have to, just tell me where it is."

"Piss off!" Joel forced out, a little blood leaking from his mouth as he did so. Lafitte just smiled.

"That's brave, but not very forward-thinking." Lafitte told him. "I've already sent more of my puppets after your Pink comrade. If you value your life, and that of your family, tell me what I want to know."

Joel knew that was unlikely. He had a feeling that the only reason they were still alive now was because Lafitte didn't know where the key was hidden. Joel wasn't so much concerned for himself, but he knew his wife and son were somewhere on the ship. He just hoped his body would hold up as he stalled for time until someone could come for them.

Just then, an alarm went off. Lafitte ran to a viewing screen, bringing up the security footage. He brought up the camera outside the cell block, and found the door lying open.

"Keep hold of him!" Lafitte called out as he broke into a run, leaving the room in search of his errant prisoners.


	8. Heart of the Corsairs

In Mariner Bay hospital, Dr Dana Mitchell was studying up some notes on one of her patients. Since Lightspeed had disbanded, she had been able to devote all her time and attention to her career in medicine. She had always loved treating patients, and seeing them getting better and sending them on their way to pursue their lives was always the most satisfying part of her job. She had loved it so much, and devoted so much of herself to her career that she had a dual speciality in medical and surgical. She had even been approached more than once with the offer of her own Chief of Medicine position in other hospitals, but she had always refused, preferring to devote her time to her patients.

Today, she had a particularly difficult and stressful procedure ahead of her. One of her young patients, a sixteen year old girl was waiting on a heart and lung transplant. Organ transplants were not undertaken lightly, it was often the last resort to improve the quality of life of a patient considerably. The fact that the patient was so young, that she was still a kid, only made her all the more determined to ensure everything went without a hitch.

Another doctor came into the office, causing her to look up from her notes.

"Silver Hills General just called." He told her. "The patient's ready for us."

"The heart...?"

"It's packed up, ready to go." He interrupted her. "The chopper's gassed up and ready to go."

"I guess this is it then." She replied, pulling on a jacket. She took a deep breath as she headed for the door.

"Good luck." He told her. Dana just smiled.

"I don't like to rely on luck...but thanks." She replied as she headed out into the hall. She broke into a run as she saw a med team, carrying a delivery box. They were on the move, and she knew that they didn't have long to make this work. One family had already suffered, but in their suffering, they were offering another kid, someone they had never met a wonderful gift, one that would change her life. Dana caught up to the transport team, and followed them towards the staircase.

Back on The Fancy, Angela was dragging her son through the ship. As soon as she had managed to hot-wire the door, she was sure that Lafitte knew she was loose, and if that was the case, she was sure that he would be doing all he could to retrieve her.

She still had no idea where Joel was, or what he was doing to him, but she was sure of one thing, the only way any of them were going to get off the ship in one piece was if they did something to make it happen themselves.

She turned a corner, only to find her way barred by the Black Lion Warrior. She turned and started running the other way, narrowly avoiding being blasted by one of his attacks as she went.

As she turned another corner, she found her way barred by the Chameleon warrior. She pulled back as the Chameleon Warrior lashed out with its tongue attack.

She looked around for options, finding a door ahead of her. She grabbed Sean, taking him towards it, and looked to the keypad closely. She could see four of the number and 9 were slightly worn. It was a four number code, and each number was only pushed once...that meant there were only 24 possibilities for the correct combination. Frantically, she tried one, only to have it buzz at her.

Angela knew she didn't have long before someone found them. She punched in code after code, trying all the combinations she could think of in succession.

"Damn it, come ON!" She growled as she continued. She tried a few more times, only stopping briefly as she heard armoured boots rounding the corner. As she saw the Black Lion Warrior coming, she realised that if she was going to get away, this was when she needed to do it.

She punched in another code, and the light flashed green, unfortunately as the door opened, wind whipped past, and she was almost pulled out of it. Grabbing the door frame with one hand, and Sean with the other, she looked out in anguish, her last hope dashed as she realised the ship was hovering hundreds, possibly thousands of feet in the air. She knew there was no way that they would ever survive that fall. She was grabbed roughly and thrown against a wall, almost knocking her out there and then. She'd lost her glasses in her impromptu flight, but she was sure her vision would be blurred anyway by the impact. The huge, hulking form of Colo was unmistakable, even with her poor eyesight.

She could hear her son yelling angrily as Colo closed the door and grabbed her by the scruff of the neck, dragging her with him down the hall. Lafitte saw this as he arrived and just chuckled.

"Good work Colo." He said as he bent down, picking up Angela's glasses. He followed them back to the interrogation area.

Dana arrived with the transport team up on the roof of the hospital; they all ducked as they headed for the helicopter. As they made their way towards the chopper though, they all saw something that stopped them in their tracks. The Sentinel Knight, Blue Centurion and Kat Ranger climbed up over the edges of the roof, and headed over, standing in their way.

"Uh...are they...?"

"Somehow I doubt they're the Rangers we want to see." Dana told them. She looked to them as she tried her best to reason with them. "Look, I know why you're here, but we need to deliver this to Silver Hills."

"Dana, what are you doing?" One of the paramedics asked her.

"We need to get this heart to the patient." She told him.

"We also need you!" He told her. "You're performing the surgery!"

"There are other surgeons." She told him. "Please, I don't mind what happens to me, but let my team go with the chest. If they don't..."

"Don't waste your time." Troy told her as he and Orion arrived on the rooftop. "The lights are on, but no-one's home. You can't reason with them."

"Come in here!" Emma beckoned her. Dana could see Carter beside her, waving frantically to her. She and the team quickly ran back for the door as Troy and Orion rushed to the attack, keeping the Ranger puppets off their backs.

"Carter?" Dana asked.

"Yeah, I know, you thought he was..."

"I TOLD you, I can't take my turn yet!" She told him. "I told you I'd be ready..."

"I think they've just bumped up the timetable." Emma told her, drawing her sword. She sliced off Dana's tracking bracelet.

"This heart has to get to Silver hills within a couple of hours or it'll be no good!" Dana told them. "We've waited months for this, if we miss this window, who knows when we'll get another chance?"

Emma took a look, and suddenly noticed the transport box. She knew that Dana was right about that. Her own experience with hospitals wasn't a happy one. By the time her mother's cancer was diagnosed, it had already spread, and so there was nothing they could do. However, she had known a few people who were on the transplant list. Some people could wait, months, even years for the organs they needed. As much as they were desperate to get to get the Ranger Keys, she didn't see why some innocent patient had to pay the price to make that happen.

She took her morpher and smiled.

"Alright, listen very carefully." She told them. "I've got an idea, and it'll need all of us to make it work."

Back on the Red Galleon, Noah was working hard on his computer, trying to find any sign of The Fancy. He had tried pretty much everything he could think of, looking for abnormal head signatures, radio signals, everything! He threw the mouse into the screen in anger.

"God Damn it!" He yelled. Kelsey looked to him as she came over.

"What is it?" She asked as Chad, Gia and Jake circled around behind him, crowding around.

"I've tried everything I can think of!" He yelled as he gestured wildly to the screen. "His cloaking device is too good, it hides everything! Sonics, thermal scan, radar...it's like the ship isn't even there!"

"Well, maybe you should look for something that isn't there." Jake suggested with a shrug. Everyone just stared at him. "Well, if we can't find what IS there..."

"Jake, you've said some random stuff in your time, but..."

"Jake, you are a GENIUS!" Noah called out as he went back to the computer.

"What? What did I say?" Jake asked him.

"He's masked his radio signals, buffered the sound made by his engines, hidden his heat signature...he's even bending radar signals to hide himself right?" Noah asked. "What's the one thing he can't change?"

They all stared at him blankly.

"He can't hide his ship's physical mass! He can't hide the space it takes up!" Noah told them. "What happens when you drop something in a body of water?"

"The water displaces." Gia answered. "It moves out of the way, making the water level rise by a factor equivalent to the space taken up by the object."

"Air does the same thing." Noah responded. "It's subtle, it's not as obvious, but air currents change to accommodate solid objects...so if I set to scanning the air currents and atmospheric pressure, and I cross reference the schematics for the size and shape of The Fancy..."

"You can look for a space in the air currents that's the same shape as his ship!" Gia called out, smiling as she hugged him. "Noah, that's brilliant!"

"Thank Jake; he's the one that gave me the idea." He responded. Everyone looked to Jake, who gave them a bright smile.

"I'm a genius." He said, adopting a cocky stance. Gia just rolled her eyes.

"Whatever, let's just get ready." Noah replied. "Lafitte's still got a whole ship full of trouble waiting for us."

Back on The Fancy, Colo dragged Angela and Sean into the interrogation room, to where Joel was still being held fast by the Shadow Ranger. He saw Colo dragging them in. He threw Sean down on the floor, at which he ran immediately to Joel's side.

"Dad!" He screamed out.

"Sean!" He yelled in response, grabbing his son as he came to his side.

"Now, doesn't that just warm your heart?" He asked. "The family all reunited."

"Let them go Lafitte." Joel told him. "They've got nothing to do with this."

"Now, you see...I DID believe that, but not anymore." He told him. "You see, the security system in this ship is quite advanced. It's not just anyone that could circumvent it."

He immediately started to search her roughly. Joel protested, but was silenced by a sharp blow across the back of the neck. Lafitte found Angela's tool kit and smiled.

"Well well, it looks like you married her for more than just her looks." Lafitte commented. "I'm guessing you didn't exactly meet over the internet."

"I was the tech expert at Lightspeed Command." She informed Lafitte. "We met during Joel's tenure."

"And you really fell...for that?" Lafitte asked, flicking a thumb in Joel's direction. Angela just glared at him hatefully.

"He's worth a hundred of you!" She stated angrily. He just smiled.

"Oh well, there's no accounting for taste I suppose." He said with a shrug. "Still, you do present me with a dilemma. Now that I've seen what you're capable of, how can I leave you unattended? I wouldn't want to risk you trying to escape again."

"Just let her go Lafitte." Joel begged him. "Please, she's no threat to you."

"Well, she certainly won't be soon." Lafitte said with a sick smile as he went to her, seeing the way Joel looked at her. He couldn't believe he hadn't thought of it before. He needed leverage to convince Joel to tell him where his Ranger Key was, and now he was sure he had found it. He took one of Angela's hands and inspected it.

"You have beautiful hands, very talented too." He complimented her, before placing it in one of Colo's massive hands. "Colo, if you could be so kind as to crush this."

"NO!" Joel called out, struggling to get loose, only to be held fast. Angela could feel Colo's grip tightening on her hand, becoming painful. She started to scream out in pain, long before she heard the first bone break. "No, stop, please!"

"I'm afraid your lovely wife is simply too dangerous to be left on my ship." He told him. "Now the other one Colo."

"No, please don't!" Joel screamed as Colo released Angela's hand, which hung limply, uselessly and grabbed her other hand. "Please, I'll give you what you want!"

"Joel, no!" Angela sobbed. "Please, don't, if you..."

Her words were cut off as Lafitte brought the back of his hand across her face. Only Colo's grip on her hand stopped her hitting the floor as he hauled her back up. He just smiled.

"I think you may have just made the first smart decision you've made since you got here." Lafitte told him.

"Touch her or my son again, and you'll never know where that key is." Joel told them. Lafitte just laughed.

"You wish to parlay?" He asked. He just shrugged. "Alright, I'll humour you, what are your terms?"

"Angela and Sean are to be released, safely and with no further harm...in Mariner Bay...On the ground and somewhere that is safe where they can get help!" Joel stated. He hated having to submit, but he knew that it was likely Lafitte was going to kill them all once he had what he wanted. He had seen 'Pirates of the Caribbean' enough times to make sure he was very specific about where and when they would be released. "Once they're off the ship, I'll tell you where the key is."

"Very well." Lafitte told him. "Colo, release the woman."

Colo released Angela, at which she fell to her knees, cradling her ruined hand gently. Joel came to her side as the Shadow Ranger and Wolf Warrior released him.

"Keep an eye on them this time." Lafitte instructed his puppets. "I don't want any more screw ups. Colo, come with me."

With that, he left the room. Joel just held Angela as she looked up to him in horror.

"How are you?" He asked her.

"My...my fingers, they're all broken." She confirmed. "Joel, what have you done?"

"The only thing I could." He sighed. "As long as you and Sean are safe, that's all that matters."

Back at the hospital, Troy and Orion were busy fighting with the Ranger puppets, when the door to the hospital opened. They watched as Dana, Emma and the other paramedics were led out of the door, their hands in the air in submission. Troy looked to Orion and gestured to him to stop as they saw the Magna Defender bringing up the rear.

"Troy, I'm sorry." Emma told him. "I tried to stop him, I did..."

"It's alright Emma." Troy answered. "We'll get you out of this."

"No, I will." Dana replied. "We know what you want...I promise I'll give it to you, but we need to let this heart get out of here."

"I know you want to help this kid, but if Lafitte gets that key..."

"Then you can get it back!" Dana snapped. "This kid might not get another chance!"

Troy stopped to ponder his position for a minute. He always had to make difficult choices in his position as Red Ranger. It seemed like he was constantly making decisions where he would have to sacrifice someone for the sake of the world. He had thought initially that this was one such choice, and while he didn't WANT to risk the health of some stranger, he also knew the potential harm Lafitte could do with another Ranger Key. As he considered his position though, he could only think that Dana had a point. If they did take her Ranger key, then they could always try to retrieve it another day. It wasn't as though forcing Dana to choose between one of her patients and the Rangers was going to convince her to give up the location of the key, even if they did win.

Troy dropped his weapons and gestured to Orion to do the same. The Magna Defender snapped some shackles onto Dana's wrists, and led her to where the other Ranger Puppets were standing.

"We'll get you back." Troy told her.

"Just...get that kid the heart." She replied as they all disappeared. Orion picked up his Silver Spear.

"We can't let him get away with this!" He yelled.

"Its fine, we'll come back for her." Troy sighed as he gestured to the transport team to get onto the helicopter. "For now, all we can do is take victory where we can find it."

As they were about to go, he saw Emma running and getting onto the helicopter. He just looked to her curiously.

"Emma, where are you going?" He asked her. "We've done our part. We've got to find Lafitte and that key..."

"You mean this key?" She replied, throwing Troy the Pink Lightspeed key. Troy looked to the key, and then back to Emma as he realised something was off.

"Wait...how...?"

With that, there was a flash of light and Emma changed into Dana. She just smiled at them.

"Emma's a very brave girl." She told him. "She was willing to risk herself for someone she hasn't even met."

"But how?" Orion asked.

"The Mystic Force powers!" Troy rushed out. "She used the magic to glamour both of you and make you look like each other."

"Something like that." She answered. "Anyway, we should be going, this heart needs to be in Silver Hills soon."

With that, the helicopter took off, leaving Orion and Troy on the room, pondering their next move. It was only as they did, that Orion suddenly realised something else was off with that whole scene.

"The Magna Defender...we got that key! Carter took him out at the graveyard!" He called out. "And where's Carter?"

"Why do I get the feeling this is all part of the plan?" Troy asked.

"I can see why you feel so strongly for Emma." Orion commented. Troy just nodded. "She's very brave."

"I know she is." Troy replied. "Sometimes she's too brave for her own good."


	9. Boarding Action

Troy and Orion arrived back on the Red Galleon, rapelling onto it as it passed overhead. When they got into the main room, Kelsey saw that the party was noticeably smaller than they had been expecting.

"Where's Dana?" She asked.

"She's on the helicopter heading for Silver Hills." Troy informed them, showing them the Pink Lightspeed Ranger Key. "She left us this though."

"Where's Emma?" Gia asked.

"That...that's a long story." Troy said abruptly as he looked around for Noah, who had promised him that he had been looking for a way to locate The Fancy. He didn't know what awaited her when she got taken to Lafitte, but he was certain that it was best she was found before that happened, and the best way to ensure that was to find Lafitte.

"Where's Carter for that matter?" Chad asked.

"That's a long story too." Troy told him. "Noah, tell me you have something."

"I've got something alright!" Noah said with a smile. "I've got a fix on his location...and I'm tracking his movements. We should be right on top of him within the next ten minutes."

"We're going after Lafitte?" Jake asked him.

"We already know he has Joel, and by now Emma's headed there too." Troy informed them. "If we want them back, we don't have much of a choice."

"Well, it's about time I guess." Gia replied, heading over to Noah's workbench. She saw the cannon he was working on. "So, is this thing ready to go yet?"

"Not yet." Noah said regretfully. "I have been having some trouble with it."

"OK, so we know how to track Lafitte's ship, there's just one small problem." Orion stated. "He still has stealth camouflage. How exactly do we fight an invisible ship?"

"Fortunately, that's one thing I DO have a solution to." Noah told them as he went back to his computer. "Everyone just be ready for a fight. Something tells me Lafitte isn't going to give up his toys easily."

Meanwhile, on The Fancy, Lafitte was sitting in his chair on the main bridge when his Ranger Puppets came back, dragging Emma with them. She was grateful that her disguise was holding up. She'd given Carter her morpher, and told him to use the Mystic Force powers to transform herself and Dana into copies of each other. She had counted on the fact that the Ranger Puppets would be fooled by the ruse...she wasn't quite as confident about Lafitte though. She could only hope that by virtue of never having met Dana, he wouldn't know enough about her to realise that Emma wasn't her.

Emma also knew there was a real danger in coming here. Carter had stayed close. From their time using the Mystic Force powers, she knew that any magic was reliant on the will and mental strength of the wielder. Although the Corsairs had access to those powers, using them, they were relative novices. It was simple to maintain a small illusion like this at close range, but the further they got from each other, the more likely it was the magic would dissipate. She was sure Dana had already returned to her own form.

"Well, hello Dr Mitchell." He greeted her. "I'm so glad that unlike your friends, you elected to come here voluntarily."

"Yeah, voluntarily." She replied sarcastically, holding up her shackles and rattling them. "I only came here because if I didn't, some kid wouldn't get a transplant they desperately needed."

"Of course, you Rangers are so selfless and noble. It's almost a fault." He chuckled.

"I'm not surprised YOU think so." She scoffed in response. He just held out a hand.

"I tire of this. I'm going to drop off your friends in a few moments." He told her. "If you just hand over your key, perhaps I won't have to be so rough with you as I was with your friend."

"Joel." Emma said gently. She looked around, seeing Colo, the Sentinel Knight and the Blue Centurion surrounding her. It was pointless to try and fight, that wasn't her role in the plan. "Where is he?"

"He's in the brig for now." Lafitte sighed. "Now, I'm losing patience...where is your key?"

"I don't have it." Emma told him.

"Why do you Rangers ALWAYS try my patience?" He screamed at her. "How many operations do you think you'll be able to perform if I have Colo here shatter every bone in your hands and crush them into powder?"

Emma just gulped. She knew he'd probably carry out his threat, and it didn't sound good. Obviously the threat was tailored to Dana's love of her career. He was threatening to take her livelihood, her passion from her. Emma had only met Dana briefly, but could already tell how important medicine was to her. She couldn't perform a surgery to save her life, hell; she'd even had her parents sign one of those permission slips to excuse her from dissection in biology lessons. That didn't make the thought of losing her hands any less scary though.

"I'm keeping it somewhere safe." Emma rushed out. "It's in a safe...at my apartment! I'll take you to it!"

"Then I guess I have the pleasure of your company a little longer." He replied. "Colo, take her to her friends, and prepare the wife and son for drop-off. We have the ones we need."

As Emma turned to leave, she noticed that she was now staring at the rear of the Sentinel Knight's shoulder. She was starting to shrink, Carter...wherever he had gone to...was now too far away. She only hoped that the illusion would hold up long enough for Lafitte to not notice his prisoner had lost about four inches in height within a couple of minutes.

As she got into the hall, presumably being led towards the holding cells, she saw the Magna Defender coming around a corner behind them, staying at a safe distance.

"Dana!" Angela called out as she saw her. She ran to the door, her hand hastily strapped into a makeshift splint she had managed to form out of bed clothing. The door opened, and Emma was shoved inside.

"Dana, what did they do to you?" Joel asked her.

"Get back!" Emma told them. They both looked to her.

"Dana, what happened to your voice?" Joel asked. Just then, they saw here starting to change back as the illusion finally faded.

"Just get back!" Emma rushed out, grabbing them and rushing into the back of the cell. They heard a couple of blasts outside, before the door flew in. They all looked up, seeing the Magna Defender, holding a smoking blaster.

"OK, what gives?" Joel asked them as they pulled themselves off the floor. Carter changed form, taking on his Red Lightspeed powers, a form they were more familiar with.

"Come on guys." Carter stated. "We're getting you out of here!"

"But how?" Joel asked him.

"We'll figure it out." Carter assured him as he ran off down the hall. Emma stopped to pick up the Sentinel Knight and Blue Centurion Keys.

"Please tell me you have more than just one morpher." Joel stated. Emma shook her head.

"Unfortunately, Carter's got mine." She informed them. "I kind of hoped Carter's got a plan."

"Yeah, Carter's got a plan." Joel told her, looking to his wife. "The default Carter plan. Blow the shit out of everything in sight!"

"I really should have thought this through more." Emma murmured as she followed them. She had met a couple of Reds in her time, hell, she was currently dating one of them, but Carter had taken that up to eleven. She just hoped that the chaos his surprise assault on Lafitte's ship would cause enough disarray to stop Lafitte and his puppets from co-ordinating their attack until their friends arrived.

Back on the Red Galleon, the Rangers were heading through the sky in pursuit of Noah's signal. He was holding a hand-held device as he went up onto the deck, where the others were waiting.

"We're close." Noah told them as he went to the railing. "We're really close; we're right on top of it."

"Are you sure?" Jake asked him. "I still can't see a thing!"

"You should know me better than that." Noah said with a smile as he manned a swivel gun on the rail. He checked his computer, and started to make his calculations, lining up a shot. Jake watched as he attached a device to it.

"What's that?" He asked.

"It's a little something I came up with to light things up a little." Noah told them. He made a few more adjustments, before firing off the swivel gun. They watched as the bolt from it slammed into something solid, and started sparking. Within moments, the air started to shimmer, and before they knew it, The Fancy appeared within the clouds.

"How did...?"

"Localised Electro Magnetic Pulse." Noah said proudly. "That should put paid to his cloaking device long enough for us to cause some damage."

"Then let's make it count!" Troy ordered them. "Train all guns and fire at will! Let's light him up! Noah, concentrate the broadsides, keep him off-balance, but don't bring him down! Jake, Gia, get on the swivel guns! Train your shots, I want that hull penetrated!"

"Then what?" Jake asked him.

"Then, we go for a boarding action!" Troy told them. "Let's show Lafitte how REAL pirates do things!"

On board The Fancy, Lafitte was thrown from his chair as the first blast hit, and alarms started wailing. He ran to his control console, only to find that the shot had knocked out his cloaking device. He could see the Red Galleon coming into view through the clouds.

"Damn it, they're smart!" He growled. Just then, he saw another alert, and could see the cell block reporting a security breach. "Damn it, this is all I need! Colo, take these...things and get those prisoners back!"

Colo just looked at him, like he was questioning Lafitte's command, something he never did. Lafitte just pointed to the door.

"Never mind me, go and get those prisoners!" Lafitte told him, arming his weapons. "If it's a fight they want, then it's a fight they'll get!"

Troy brought the ship around, allowing Noah to hit another broadside. It rocked the ship, but he was careful not to aim for anything vital.

"He's not taking this lying down!" Noah called to him. "Everyone brace!"

Kelsey and Chad could only hold on tightly as the whole ship was shaken by the return fire. Troy knew that Lafitte had to have some firepower on his ship...fortunately it seemed that the Red Galleon was holding up to the abuse.

"How are things looking up there?" He asked as he swung the ship around again.

"Just give us a little more time!" Gia replied, taking careful aim for a point on the ship that appeared to have been damaged by previous shots. When she fired, a bulkhead tore inwards, leaving a huge hole in the side. "Got it! We've got a way in!"

"Alright, Noah, take over!" Troy told him. "Orion, Gia, Jake...you're with me."

With that, they assembled on the deck, heading over to the railing. Troy set up a grappling line, after which the others followed suit.

"I'll bet this brings back memories." Gia said to Orion as they took their place on the railing. As Noah swung the ship around as close as possible, they all launched themselves into the air, swinging around for the opening. Troy and Orion landed first, rolling clear of the opening. Troy could already hear fighting, and knew that something had to have happened on the ship. Jake and Gia arrived, landing behind them.

"Alright guys, fan out and find them." Troy instructed his team. "As soon as we have them, bug out!"

With that, they broke off and ran in all directions, searching for their friends. As he was about to head off though, Orion paused as a thought occurred to him. He was on Lafitte's ship, all of his henchmen were busy...this was the closest he had ever been to getting him on his own. Gripping his Silver Spear, he ran in a different direction in search of the bridge.

Carter was being pinned down in cover, as the White Mystic Ranger and Wolf Warrior send magical blasts his way. Emma, Joel and Angela were all behind him, keeping out of the line of fire.

"Damn it, we're cut off!" Carter yelled.

"Cut off from where exactly?" Angela protested. "We're on a sky ship Carter! Where exactly were you planning to go?"

Just then, there was some fire coming from the other direction, and the Kat Ranger and Shadow Ranger tumbled into the room. Troy and Jake followed them in, driving the other puppets back.

"Come on!" Troy ordered them. "Gia's holding a corridor clear!"

"Again, where to?" Angela asked.

"We have our own ship!" Troy assured them. "Come on!"

Emma, Joel and Angela all headed down the corridor leading away, while Carter, Troy and Jake covered them.

"Alright, we've got them." Troy called into his communicator as they started to back away. "We're coming out!"

"Coming out?" Carter asked. "There are more of these guys!"

"Yeah, four here...and another two, and that huge ape somewhere else on the ship!" He reminded him.

"We can come back for the others." Jake reminded him.

"But..."

"Guys, I found the others!" Gia called out as she, Emma, Angela, Sean and Joel all ran back. "They cut us off!"

"Noah, we could use another way out!" Troy told him.

"Try Mystic Force." Noah told him. "I'll try to keep the ship still, a teleportation spell should work."

"Keep the ship still?" Jake asked. "Won't that make you a sitting target?"

"Yes, so hurry up about it would you?" Noah asked. Troy just looked to the others.

"Alright, let's try this." Troy announced as he, Gia, Jake and Carter all adopted the forms of Mystic Force Rangers.

"How come I get to be pink?" Carter complained.

"Because your itchy trigger finger got us into this!" Jake reminded him as they all teleported out of the ship, returning to the Red Galleon.

As they arrived on deck, the ship rocked violently.

"Alright, you're back!" Noah stated. "Good, because we're getting creamed here! Time to bug out!"

"Uh...does anyone notice we're a Ranger short?" Kelsey asked as she gestured to the group. They all looked around and realised she was right.

"Orion!" Emma called out. "He must still be on the ship!"

"Noah, we have to..."

"We HAVE to get out of here!" Noah told him, showing him the damage readout. "I'm not kidding, we've taken a hammering! If we don't go now, we might not be able to!"

"Then get us out of here!" Troy told him.

"But Troy..."

"Its better five Rangers get out than none!" Troy interrupted Emma. "Noah, get us out of here before Lafitte brings us down! All we can do is hope Orion doesn't get himself killed."

Back on The Fancy, Lafitte saw the Red Galleon turning and leaving, smoke billowing from it as it limped away from him. He just smiled. Their ship had equal firepower, but he didn't have the same distractions they did. In the end, he had managed to turn the tide.

As he was about to check on his henchmen, he heard a small explosion behind him. He turned around to see Orion standing on the bridge, having locked the door behind him and disabled the control panel. He converted his Silver Spear into trident mode.

"So, I guess this is where you make some speech about how you're going to get revenge for what I did to you and Marv." Lafitte said with a smile. "If it makes you feel any better, I really do regret what happened to Marv. He was a good pirate..."

"He was a good man too!" Orion roared as he rushed towards Lafitte. The Privateer swatted his strike aside, before throwing him into the wall, stunning him. Orion turned around, as Lafitte drew his sword and his pistol.

"You probably thought this was going to be so easy didn't you?" Lafitte asked him. His eyes started to glow, and energy flared up around him. "Now it's time for you to see why I have an unlimited reward!"

Orion could only watch as Lafitte transformed, growing by at least a foot, and adding about fifty pounds of muscle to his frame. His clothing melted away, reforming into what looked a lot like armour, held in place with numerous leather straps wrapped all the way around his body. Fur erupted from his shoulders, replacing the feather boa he habitually wore, and his face twisted into a hideous, red, demonic visage, split by a sickening, rictus grin. On his head, he had a black, tricorn hat.

"Wow, no wonder you keep your true form under wraps." Orion commented.

"I was hoping you'd choose something more elegant for last words." Lafitte said as he raised his sword over his shoulders, and levelled his pistol at him. "But I suppose that's going to have to do!"


	10. A Tough Choice

On the Red Galleon, Angela was sitting with Tensou as he analysed her injury, holding her son closely. Colo had inflicted a horrifying injury on her, crushing her hand. Leaving her with real fears for how much damage had been done. In science and engineering, a gentle and intricate touch was a valuable thing to have. He looked to her as he finished his x-ray.

"I can re-set everything to where it's meant to be and dress it properly." Tensou told her. "It should recover, but..."

"But?" She asked.

"You...you might want to bite down on something." He warned her as he landed. She looked to Joel, who had insisted his wife was seen first. Although he had lost a couple of teeth, he knew how important Angela's career was to her, and insisted that she was the first to be seen. Joel took Sean from her and told him to go somewhere to play. Sean didn't want to leave his mother, but as Emma offered him a hand and led him away, Joel took the seat next to her and held her remaining good hand gently.

"I'm here." He told her as Noah handed her a gum shield. Angela took it, putting it in her mouth and gripped his hand tightly. Tensou gave her a local anaesthetic, before beginning to get to work setting everything back where it was meant to be. The loud grunts and expression on Angela's face told the whole story as she gripped Joel's hand like her life depended on it. Kelsey looked a little ill seeing how much pain Angela was in, while Carter was sitting in the corner, his head in his hands. His plan to bring his team into the safety of the Aquabase had been solid, or so he thought. It was just unfortunate that it was more than a little too late for this to happen. He had hoped to get them all into hiding before anyone got hurt, but obviously that hadn't happened. Chad was still glaring at him, more than a little angry at the deception of the fake funeral. Jake came to his side and smiled.

"So, is that a typical Red thing?" He asked. "Always feeling like it's your fault if someone gets hurt?"

"In Carter's case it usually was." Chad responded. Jake just looked to him.

"Ouch...that's pretty harsh!" Jake replied as he heard this. Chad just crossed his arms. "I'm sure he didn't intend..."

"Yeah, what he intended and what happened are two different things." Chad snorted. "Angela, Joel and Sean were in the hands of that psychopath! Kelsey could have been killed!"

"I'm not saying he handled this brilliantly..."

"I think all evidence points that way." Chad interrupted him. Just then, they heard a commotion in the corner.

"You can't be serious!" Gia yelled at Troy.

"It's not like we have much of a choice Gia!" Troy answered.

"But Orion's still in there!" Emma screamed.

"We barely limped out of there after his last broadside!" Troy reminded them as he looked to Noah. "What's the damage report looking like?"

"The hull's got more holes in it than the plot of 'How I Met Your Mother'." He replied. "The self-repair system's working all-out on it, but it'll still be hours before we can risk going into another full-on battle with The Fancy."

He pulled up more information.

"The electrics are pretty beat up too, and the engines have seen better days." He continued. "All in, I reckon if I go down there to help out the self-repair system, we're still talking about a couple of hours before we're anywhere near ready for a fight, and I'd definitely not recommend going head-on with The Fancy anytime soon."

"Noah, Orion's on that ship!" Gia reiterated.

"We also have to get the Lightspeed Team to safety!" Troy reminded her. "Noah, set a course for Briarwood."

"What?" Emma shrieked.

"They have healers there, it's the best place for Joel and Angela." He answered. Joel just looked up.

"We can wait." He insisted. "If one of our own..."

"We can't go into a full-on battle with The Fancy if we have bystanders to worry about." Troy interrupted him. "We can collect Dana from Silver Hills when she's ready, or the Lightspeed Team can arrange to get her there themselves, but so far we've had WAY too many distractions."

"But Troy..."

"We off-load the Lightspeed Team and do repairs, then we go back for Orion." He told them.

"What if Orion doesn't have that long?" Emma asked him. It was a tough question, one which got everyone on the ship staring at Troy. He hated being in this position. Since taking on the Red Ranger position well over a year previously, he had been forced to make tough decisions, but none of them had put him in this position. Right now, everyone, Lightspeed and Corsair alike was staring at him, willing him to turn around and go back for Orion. A part of him wanted to do so too, but he was weighing up his options, and the odds. Right now, the Galleon was heavily damaged, and he was certain they had only just limped out of battle in time. He had the lives of the entire team, all the Ranger Keys they had collected, the only working Ranger powers on the planet in his care. He took a deep breath, before looking back to them.

"Orion made his choice." Troy told them. "Jake, set a course for Briarwood. Noah, concentrate on those repairs."

"So that's it?" Emma snapped. "What we think doesn't matter?"

"I'm sorry to say, but right now it doesn't!" Troy answered harshly. "I'm Captain for a reason; sometimes my decisions won't be popular. This isn't a democracy, not this time."

With that, he left the room, heading to his chambers. The others just looked around each other. All of them could understand what Troy was saying, even though none of them liked it. They all wanted to go back and get Orion. The scene was silent for a moment, like a powder keg waiting on someone to light a fuse. They were looking for one of them, any of them, to speak up to incite the mutiny. Eventually it was Jake that spoke up.

"I'm setting a course for Briarwood." He told them, looking to the Lightspeed Team. "You can all figure out what to do about Dana."

"Jake, Orion..."

"Like Troy said, Orion made his choice!" Jake stated. "This isn't a one-man show."

With that, Emma left to go to her room, while Noah returned to his work. Jake went to the controls to set in their new course. Gia though just slumped into a chair in the corner, fuming over the fact that they would ever leave one of their own behind. Kelsey saw this and made her way over.

"Come with me." Kelsey told her.

"Kelsey..."

"Just come with me." Kelsey told her. "You won't regret it, I promise."

With that, Gia was dragged in a somewhat less than dignified manner from the main room by her predecessor.

Back on The Fancy, Orion was quickly finding himself in the fight of his life. That was to say...he was fighting simply to remain alive! He had never seen Lafitte's true form. In all the time he had been a part of his crew, Lafitte had always used himself, Marv and Colo to do his fighting when they boarded ships. Marv had joked many times about his flamboyant appearance and love of fine clothing and silks. Combined with his refusal to fight himself, it had led to obvious comments that he couldn't, or that he relied on the others. Unfortunately, that wasn't the case.

Orion spun his Silver Spear around, deflecting some shots from Lafitte's pistol, but some of them still slammed home, staggering him. Lafitte stomped his foot on the floor, causing it to split and throw Orion off his feet.

"Aw...did you get a little more than you expected?" Lafitte taunted him. Orion struggled to crawl over to his weapon as Lafitte advanced. "Did you really think that I was just some stuffed shirt that had nothing behind it?"

"There isn't a heart there, that's for sure." Orion commented. "Marv was your friend!"

"Marv was a crewman. He had his uses." Lafitte responded. "When I sold you to Damaras, it was nothing personal. It was just...best for business."

Orion snatched up his Silver Spear and ran at Lafitte, launching himself into the air. Lafitte deflected the blow with his pistol, using his sword to smash him all the way across the room into a control panel. Orion could feel his power levels falling as he tried to get up. Just then, he heard a pounding on the door.

"It seems Colo has realised something is wrong." Lafitte said as he advanced. "The only question is, do I deal with you myself or let him have you?"

Orion rushed at him, turning his Ranger Key into the Silver Spear, powering it up to the full. Lafitte stood his ground, catching the prongs in his hands as Orion got to him. Orion drove him back, all the way to the wall, but the strike never hit home. He could only watch as Lafitte ripped the weapon from his hands. He hit him with a headbutt, staggering Orion as his vision blurred, before he hit him with his own spear, knocking him down to the floor. Orion de-morphed, landing painfully in a heap. Lafitte just looked to the Silver Spear.

"Such a funny little weapon. What was it Marv always called it? A toothpick?" Lafitte asked him. He snapped the weapon in half over his knee, throwing the pieces at Orion, before regaining his sword. Orion fumbled with his morpher as Lafitte advanced. He tried to get another Ranger Key into it, before Lafitte started running at him. He became a blur as he rushed so fast that Orion couldn't see him, slashing out with his sword as he went. Each time, he caused a small, superficial cut, each one designed more to inflict pain than cause any real harm. Orion fell to his knees, his morpher falling from his hands as Lafitte finally stopped.

"I can keep this up all day. I could have ended you dozens of times already." Lafitte told him. "But since you DID steal from me..."

"Those Ranger Keys weren't yours!" Orion roared. "You stole them!"

"Details, details." Lafitte chuckled. He saw Orion fumbling, trying to put a Ranger Key into his morpher as Colo continued to pound on the door, which was already starting to bend inwards, and looked like it could give at any moment. Lafitte just held up his sword. "I'll tell you what, since you have shown a lot of spirit, how about I give you another chance at those last words?"

"Sure, how about...Q-Rex Drill?" He stated, punching in the code as he put the Quantum Ranger Key into his morpher. Before Lafitte knew what was happening, a hole had been punched in the side of the ship as the drill came crashing through the hull, hitting Lafitte square in the chest. He hit the other side of the room, giving Orion his chance to move. He ran as fast as he could, snatching up the pieces of his Silver Spear, before throwing himself out of the hole. He hurtled towards the ground as gravity took over, being caught by the Q-Rex Drill Zord just as Lafitte got to the hole in the hull. The Zord sped away, disappearing into the distance by the time Colo managed to tear down the door and arrive by his master.

"He always was a slippery little bastard." Lafitte commented. "He never did know when to die."

Colo just grunted in response. Lafitte turned towards him and chanced back into his human form.

"Clean this up would you?" He asked. "I could use a drink."

With that, he walked away, leaving Colo with the remains of his bridge to sort out.

Meanwhile, on the Q-Rex Drill, Orion got to the controls, his vision blurring in and out as he went. He had seen an opportunity to get his revenge on Lafitte, to destroy him for good, but he had found himself overmatched by his power. It had never occurred to him that Lafitte had been hiding that kind of power from him. He punched in a few keys, telling the Q-Rex to trace the Red Galleon, before slumping into his chair and allowing himself to pass out.

On the Red Galleon, Kelsey finally got Gia out onto the main deck. Gia just looked to her, a little put out.

"Kelsey, I'm really not in the mood for this." Gia told her. "Troy's just turned his back..."

"Trust me, we're not always happy by the decisions our Reds make." Kelsey assured her. "I have to admit; sometimes I THOUGHT I'd make a better Red than Carter. I never understood his decisions half the time, and..."

"Kelsey, Troy just turned around and left Orion alone on that ship with Lafitte!" Gia told her. "He just left him there!"

"I know, and it feels wrong and it sucks." Kelsey told her. "But you know what? It might not feel like it right now, but it's probably the right choice."

"Kelsey..."

"Like I said, I don't like it, and I didn't agree with a lot of Carter's decisions, that was my luxury!" She insisted. "But the more I think back on things, I know that most of the decisions he made had some logic behind them."

"Kelsey, you were the one that was pissed at him for not telling you about the faking death thing." Gia reminded her. Kelsey just sighed.

"Yeah, that's true, I was pissed about that." Kelsey told her. "But you know, even I can understand WHY he did it. It's my luxury to be mad about the decision he took...Carter...he just has to wear his decisions, even when it means others are going to hate him for it. If I'm honest, when I think back on some of what happened back in our day...I don't envy Carter for a second. At times I wonder how he managed to do it."

Gia just nodded in understanding as she heard this. She knew it was true. She had often questioned the decisions Troy made, and at times she had found herself thinking that she would be a better leader, but when all was said and done, she was often grateful for the fact that she didn't have that responsibility. She was responsible for the lives of her team-mates in battle; Troy was responsible for their safety every hour of every day. It was something that Emma had told her sometimes kept him up at night. She couldn't imagine being in that position.

"All you can do is hope that Orion makes it out." Kelsey told her. "Those Silver guys are pretty tough."

"Orion DID survive years marooned on a deserted planet." Gia recalled.

"Ryan survived growing up in a Daemon dimension since he was six years old." Kelsey stated. "We Rangers are a tough lot to kill. Even the ones that the bad guys DO manage to take out have a habit of coming back."

Gia just looked at her, a little curious about this statement. Kelsey then just gestured to her to come closer, before producing Gia's tablet.

"Hey, that's..."

"Trust me; you're going to want to see this." Kelsey told her. "I kind of did a little digging on your behalf."

"Wait...this...this is Cat's Facebook page!" Gia yelled, looking at it. "You're trolling my ex?"

"Just...look at it for a second will you?" Kelsey asked. "What do you notice?"

"I notice she's putting a lot of her artwork up there." Gia answered. "Um..."

"Do you notice a recurring theme with the artwork?" Kelsey asked her.

"It's of us." Gia answered.

"And how many of the pictures have the Yellow Ranger front and centre?" Kelsey teased her. "Oh, and you might want to see this."

"Her relationship status...it says..."

"Single." Kelsey answered. Gia just sighed.

"So she and Tamsin..."

"Oh...I took that little liberty too." Kelsey answered, clicking on Cat's friends section, calling up Tamsin's profile.

"Tamsin West, relationship status...in a relationship with Gregory Townsend?" Gia asked. Kelsey just nodded. "Tamsin's straight?"

"Unless her profile is mistaken, it looks that way." Kelsey told her. Gia just took the tablet from her, inspecting it thoughtfully.

"Cat...Cat lied to me." Gia remarked. Kelsey just put her arm around her.

"For what it's worth...it doesn't look like there's been anyone else." Kelsey told her. "I think she did it for you."

With that, Kelsey left Gia, holding the tablet, going back to Cat's profile. It had broken her heart when Cat had ended things, when she had told her that things were over. Now that she knew it had all been a lie, a part of her was angry that Cat would do that to her, but more than anything else, all she could feel was the love she had for her girlfriend returning to her. She hugged her tablet to her and looked out into the night sky, trying to imagine what Cat was doing now.

Meanwhile, on the Armada Flagship, Lavira went to the gym, finding Vekar being put through his paces by Argus. The pitiless cyborg that had been charged with getting him back into shape was just staring at him as he was on the floor, on all fours, sweating intently.

"Please, please no more!" Prince Vekar begged him. "Have mercy, I beg you!"

"Your enemies would not beg for such mercy." Argus told him. Lavira just watched as begrudgingly, Prince Vekar assumed the position and started doing slow, shaky looking push ups.

"Your Highness, I just wanted to report, there was a major battle over Mariner Bay." She informed him. "It appears both the Rangers and Lafitte's ships suffered heavy damage."

"Leave it to Damaras." He responded. "Can't you see I'm...?"

With that, he flopped face-first to the floor. Lavira just looked to Argus.

"So...how many has he done?" She asked him.

"Almost three." Argus replied. Lavira just sighed.

"I'll report back." She said as she left the room, casting one look back as Prince Vekar struggled back into position, under Argus' merciless watch.


	11. Recovering Orion

Kelsey, Chad and Carter were all on the main deck with Noah and Jake as the sky ship came around to a stop. It was on the motorway link between Blue Bay Harbour and San Angeles, but other than that, nothing of note could be seen for miles in either direction. The road just extended straight through the forest.

"Why are we stopping?" Chad asked them. "There's nothing here?"

"Trust us, it's here." Jake assured him with a smile. "You're going to love this."

Just then, the Red Galleon started to descend. The Lightspeed team all watched as they came closer and closer to the tree line. As the base of the hull got about a hundred feet from the ground though, they saw the air ripple and distort, like they were passing through an unseen water bubble. As they descended through the barrier, they saw the view shifting into something new. They all stared in disbelief as the city of Briarwood appeared as though from nowhere.

"How...?"

"Nick and his buddies still have a few tricks up their sleeve." Noah told them. "If anyone else comes through here, they magically just walk around in circles until they come out the other side, none the wiser. Fortunately, Nick gave us an any-time invite, so we can pass through without incident."

"You can find it because you already know where it is." Chad remarked with a smirk. "How very 'Pirates of the Caribbean'."

"I'm just bummed that it's magic and not technological." Noah told them. "Having a cloaking system like this on the ship would be a huge help."

As the ship finally touched down in the bay, they looked up as a column of flame erupted on the dock. The flames dissipated and they found Nick standing, waiting on them. He smiled as he saw them.

"Well, I wish you'd called first so I could have arranged a proper welcome." He said as Troy appeared on deck, standing on the railing as they came to rest and dropped anchor. "Glad to see you back."

"I really wish it was a social call." Troy replied as he leapt off the ship. The gang plank lowered, allowing the Lightspeed Team to make their way onto the dock. "We've got some friends we need you to take care of. They're the Lightspeed Team, like the Overdrive Rangers their identities were public knowledge..."

"I understand." Nick said as he looked to them. "You're all welcome to stay here as long as you want. Anything you need will be provided, you only have to ask."

"How about a hospital?" Joel asked as he guided Angela towards him. Nick just looked to her hand and inspected it.

"I think I can go one better." He told them. He held Angela's hand in his, and a bright, orange light started to glow around her hand. As he removed his hands, Angela started to unwrap her hand from the dressings they had used, and stared at it in disbelief. Colo had broken most of the bones in her hand, crushing them to leave her unable to cause any further trouble with their systems. She wasn't sure her hand would ever fully recover, at very least she was certain she would have months of physical therapy to look forward to once the bones had healed.

"My hand..." She gasped. "You..."

"Believe me, it was a pleasure to help." Nick assured her. He looked to Joel. "It looks like you could use a little attention too, I promise to heal you as soon as you're settled."

"We really wish there was more we could do to help." Carter told him. "We did try..."

"Hey, it was a solid plan." Troy assured him. "We just wish it had worked out before Lafitte came calling."

"Speaking of which, we wish we could stick around longer, but we really need to get back." Noah told them.

"Our Sixth Ranger had the genius idea of taking on Lafitte by himself." Troy said as he looked to Carter. "We'll go and collect Dana from Silver Hills as soon as we can, but first we need to find Orion."

"Don't worry; we'll take care of the Lightspeed Team." Nick assured them. "Come on guys, I'll sort you out with somewhere to stay."

As the Lightspeed Team left, Troy took Noah and Jake back onto the ship, where Gia and Emma were waiting. He went to the controls, and started up the engines.

"Alright guys, let's go looking for Orion." Troy stated, lifting the anchor and starting to lift off, hoping that they weren't already too late. They had now left Orion a couple of hours ago. They could only hope that he'd managed to survive without them for all this time.

Meanwhile, over on The Fancy, Lafitte walked into the main room, finding his remaining Ranger Puppets and Colo waiting. The Ranger Puppets had no emotions, and so didn't really respond in any way to Lafitte's arrival, but Colo was not so fortunate. The hulking Gorilla could not hide the fear he felt as he saw his captain arriving. The latest mission, their attempts to gain the Lightspeed Keys had ended in a spectacular failure, one which they were still clearing up after. The ship had been damaged in the resulting battle with the Rangers, forcing them to find somewhere to set down to enact the self-repair system. It would be hours before they would be ready to continue their search.

"So, let me just take stock of this situation." Lafitte began, casually pacing back and forward before his henchmen. "You managed to bring a Power Ranger onto the ship, let him run rampant around, destroy half my ship, and...To cap it all off...you lose FOUR of my remaining puppets to the Rangers?"

Colo just let out a pathetic little grunt. It was all he could do, given his inability to speak, to defend his error. Although bringing Emma and Carter onto The Fancy hadn't been Colo's fault. If he had been on the team that brought them in, he would have seen through the ruse. He could have smelled that "Dana's" scent was the same as one of the Rangers they had already encountered. He could have seen the Magna Defender acting strangely. For all their power, the Ranger Puppets lacked sentience, a finer understanding of the world around them. They lived only to follow Lafitte's command, something Emma had exploited. Of course, Lafitte didn't see things that way.

"I managed to humiliate my former crewmate, powers and all." Lafitte told him. "You had one powered up Ranger, two girls, an injured man, and a child to deal with, and you couldn't even handle them. Alarm bells are ringing Colo."

He drew his pistol, levelling it straight at Colo's face, causing the massive creature to sink down onto his knees, like he was begging for his life.

"I'm beginning to wonder if you've outlived your usefulness!" He sneered. He then swiped Colo across the face with the serrated edge of the pistol, opening a horrendous wound across Colo's face that barely missed his right eye. Colo just looked up to his master with a pained expression, like he was truly terrified that his life was in danger. Lafitte had never been this angry with Colo before, generally seeing him as a perfect henchman.

"Get out of here and get cleaned up." He snorted in disgust. "But rest assured, your chances are running out."

With that, Lafitte dismissed his henchmen, allowing them to return to their duties. Lafitte just went back to his chambers and opened up the map on his computer, aiming to plan his next move. So far, the Rangers had managed to stay one step ahead of him, even when he knew where the Ranger Keys were.

He selected his next destination on the computer, remembering something he had heard from the others. The Lightspeed Pink Ranger had not been with them when they left, that had been the centre of their ruse. He tried to remember what they had said, that she had something else to do before she could go into hiding.

He set his destination for Silver Hills, remembering that she was meant to go there to perform some form of surgery. It wasn't much of a lead, and his position had never been this weakened, but now, he was coming close to the end, to an all-or-nothing gamble to bring the Ranger Keys into his possession. All he needed was to find the right stake.

The Red Galleon was flying through the skies, in desperate search of The Fancy. Noah was working on his computer, using his new tracking system to try and find any sign of Lafitte's ship. It was a long shot, but right now, it was the best they had.

"Any sign yet?" Gia asked.

"Nothing." Noah told her. "My system only works over a few miles, and we left him hours ago. He could have touched down anywhere to make repairs."

"We need to keep looking!" Emma said in a panic. "Anything could have happened to Orion. We need to find him!"

"Uh...I don't think that's going to be much of an issue." Jake replied, pointing out the window. They all looked out, seeing the Q-Rex Drill heading their way.

"It looks like he was smart enough to get out of there." Noah said as he smiled.

"Way to go Orion!" Emma called out as the ship came closer. As it closed in, and they started to grow excited, Gia's smile slipped.

"Uh...guys?" She said. "He's...he's not slowing down!"

"Brace for impact!" Noah called out as Troy steered the ship around, hoping to avoid the worst of the impact. The two ships collided, raking along each other with a squeal of metal raking against metal.

"Come on, we need to see what's going on!" Gia said as she grabbed her grapnel and ran for the upper deck, morphing as she went. Emma, Noah and Jake all joined her.

Gia led the boarding action, leaping into the unknown, throwing out her grapnel as she did so. She found herself on the hull of the Q-Rex, searching around for a way in as the others arrived.

"This thing is out of control!" Gia told them. "We need to get inside!"

"Damn, it's like no-one's at the wheel!" Emma replied as they all worked with one of the hatches, trying to get it open. Eventually, they managed to force it, and get inside. They made their way to the control room, where they found Orion, unmorphed and lying unconscious on the floor, wounds covering most of his body.

"Get this thing under control!" Gia instructed Noah. "Orion, can you hear me? Orion, answer me!"

She tried to rouse him as Noah de-activated the auto-pilot, and bring the ship to a stop. He secured it, before joining the others at Orion's side.

"What the hell happened?" Noah asked.

"It looks like he got out and put the ship on auto-pilot." Gia told them. "He's in a pretty bad way; we need to get him back to the Red Galleon."

"He's...he's still alive." Noah assured them as he checked him over. "Orion's tough...if it wasn't for how strong he is, he'd probably be dead already."

"I guess facing Lafitte, half a dozen Ranger puppets and Colo by himself wasn't the smartest thing he could do." Jake remarked as he picked Orion up off the floor, carrying him.

"The wounds...they all seem pretty consistent." Gia told him. "I think it was all the same person."

"You mean..." Emma started to say, looking a little worried. "You mean that Lafitte did all this by himself?"

"I'm not sure." Gia answered. "We're going to have to wait until Orion wakes up to know for sure. Noah, set this thing to go back to the Time Base for repairs. We'll look after Orion."

Back on Lafitte's ship, he was sitting in his private quarters, casually sipping some wine when Colo arrived. The massive gorilla had a dressing over the wound in his face, and came in cautiously, clearly still terrified that his master had changed his mind about terminating him.

"There's no need to fear Colo, come in." Lafitte said warmly. "Come closer, come!"

The gorilla shifted slowly, uncertainly towards him. Lafitte just gestured to some food on the table.

"Please, come, eat if you'd like." Lafitte invited him. Colo just looked at the table a little nervously, before looking back to Lafitte. The pirate just sighed and picked up a piece of pie, taking a large bite. "You really are becoming suspicious in your old age my friend. If I'd wanted you dead, I'd have killed you earlier. I don't need poison for that."

Colo just came to Lafitte's side and sat down with his master. Lafitte looked to him with a little smile.

"The Rangers are a clever lot, and I fear the time may have come to play a different game with them." He told him. "I have an idea, but I'm not sure my Ranger Puppets are up to this alone."

He took another bite and shifted closer.

"This time, I need someone a little more reliable." He said with a smile. "There may yet be a way you can make all this up to me. You are going to be central to all of it."

Meanwhile, back on the Red Galleon, Orion started to stir as he came to. He took a moment to get his bearings, but by the time he did, he found the others standing over him.

"You gave us quite a scare." Emma commented.

"Guys...I'm sorry." Orion told them. "I know it was wrong..."

"Orion, we warned you before, this isn't just about your revenge." Troy told him. "It's more than that. You had a job to do."

"I know..."

"There were other people on that ship! You let us get surrounded!" Jake reminded him. "We almost all got destroyed!"

"I know I should have stayed in position. I know I should have done my job."

"This can't happen again." Troy told him bluntly. "If it does, it'll be the last thing you do as a Ranger."

Orion nodded in understanding. He knew he had done the wrong thing, he knew his friends had every right to be upset with him. He had endangered all of them for his pursuit of vengeance.

"There is one saving grace to all this." Troy said with a small sigh. "You're now the only one that's seen what Lafitte can do first hand."

"So, what happened?" Jake asked him. "What do we have to look forward to?"

Orion just lay back in his bed and prepared to explain what he had seen.

**A/N: **OK, just a small warning folks. I've got to take a work-related trip this week, so it'll probably be a while before I am able to update. I might have another chapter up tomorrow (no promises), but other than that, it'll be at least the weekend before there's an update.

If it is any consolation though, the next couple of chapters promise to be full of action, as the situation with Lafitte heats up to an epic confrontation that promises to be one of the toughest the Rangers have seen to date. Thanks for your support, and your patience.


	12. Silver Hills Here We Come

It was the following day by the time Lavira went to the Prince's chambers to relay the latest events to him. She was still uncertain about Damaras' recent behaviour. It seemed like The Armada was making little to no progress at all in the grand scheme of things. He always seemed to be several steps behind Lafitte and the Rangers, and had so far failed to capitalise on any opportunities to attack. After the last battle in particular, she was sure he couldn't have missed The Fancy and the Red Galleon's epic battle over Mariner Bay, or the fact that both ships had left with significant damage. It was the ideal time to strike, and yet he had missed it altogether.

She came into the room, finding the Prince out of bed, and already doing some sit-ups. His workout and diet regime had now been in place for almost a week, and between Argus' pitiless coaching and the naturally high metabolism of Vekar's race, it was already having an impressive effect. Sure, as he lay down, wearing only breeches, his pot-belly still flopped over the waist-band of his sweat pants, but it was already around half the size it had been when he started. He was already out of breath.

"You are training without your cheerleader?" Lavira asked him.

"His alarm call woke me up three hours ago." Prince Vekar told her, extending a hand for her to help him up. "This is his idea of 'earning my breakfast'."

She grabbed his hand, uncertain she would be able to help him move, but the serving droids were ready to help their Prince maintain some dignity should he be unable to get up all the way on the first try. Lavira was more than a little surprised by how easy it actually was. She knew she wasn't strong enough to move the Prince so easily by herself, so she was sure that he had to have put in some of the effort himself...something of a remarkable turn of events in and of itself. As she grabbed further up his arm to help him the last of the way, she could hardly believe what she found. The Prince had never been an active creature, his musculature more akin to well-cooked linguine than anything else, but now...there was some actual definition there. Her hand didn't quite get all the way around his arm, and it was a lot firmer than she remembered. It seemed like Argus' exercise plan was having more of a positive effect than even the Prince realised.

"Well, what is it?" He asked her as he pressed a button to call in the droid with what Argus considered a suitable breakfast. Lavira scrunched up her face slightly seeing what Argus had sent. It was a sickeningly coloured green concoction with...things...floating in it, what she imagined the humans would refer to as a 'health shake'. Argus had a very basic digestive system, and so only needed functional sustenance, but he had an encyclopaedic knowledge of nutrition. While Lavira was certain it was good for the Prince...she didn't even want to begin to imagine what might actually be in it! "Why do you feel the need to interrupt one of the few free hours I have before that chrome-plated drill sergeant shows up?"

"Your Highness...the Rangers and Lafitte were in a huge battle with each other just yesterday." She told him as he sniffed the shake, and tried to steal himself to drink it. "Both their ships took heavy damage, and I am certain there must have been casualties on both sides..."

"That is EXCELLENT news!" He replied, slapping Lavira enthusiastically on the shoulder. She winced a little; clearly he wasn't quite used to his increasing strength. It was possible he didn't even notice the improvement because the nature of Argus' workouts meant that he was usually always exhausted. "You see, I was certain that Damaras would..."

"Your Highness...Damaras has done nothing to press the advantage." Lavira told him. Prince Vekar just looked to her as she interrupted him.

"What do you mean, he's done nothing?" Prince Vekar asked her.

"He sent no forces to the battle." Lavira told him. "We've lost both ships from the scans...this opportunity..."

"He must be doing SOMETHING surely." Prince Vekar stated as he took a long gulp from the shake. He didn't react quite as badly to some of the 'meals' Argus had served him, but his face still said pretty much everything that needed to be said about how palatable it was. Lavira just watched him. "I mean, have you been with him at all times?"

"Not ALL the time." Lavira told him. "He sent me to my lab..."

"Well, there you go then!" He replied, before quaffing more of the vile substance, wiping his mouth with his hand. "I am sure he already has something or someone in mind. He probably just wants to keep things under wraps, to surprise me with some good news to ease my pain from all these torture sessions!"

"Your Highness..."

"Just continue to serve him as faithfully as you have." Prince Vekar told her, finishing off the shake, before throwing the container over his shoulder. One of his droids lunged to catch it before it hit the floor. "I'm sure...oh, there he is, my own personal Hell spawned daemon!"

Argus stepped into the room.

"Have you warmed up?" He asked the Prince. Prince Vekar just nodded.

"I have." The Prince told him.

"Then come with me to the holo-chamber." Argus told him, throwing him a t-shirt. "Today, I have arranges special training."

"Oh goody." Prince Vekar sighed sarcastically, before following him out of the door. Lavira watched them go, shaking her head. She knew Argus' training was having a positive effect, but she could only hope that the Prince returned before Damaras had already left his position beyond recovery. She still couldn't fathom what the tactical officer was up to, but for every step they made forward, it felt like the journey just got longer.

On The Red Galleon, the Rangers assembled in the main room. Orion had been patched up from his fateful battle with Lafitte, and after taking some time to pray on his rash and reckless actions, he returned to the others, sitting at the table with them. He took a sip of his tea as he sat with them, looking to Troy as he prepared to begin the meeting to discuss their current position.

"Alright, we now know more about what we're up against." Troy told them. "We've set a course for Silver Hills, we should be ready to weigh anchor there and pick Dana up tomorrow morning. Noah..."

"The ship's currently at 85 percent of optimal strength." Noah informed them. "The engines are running at seventy percent output, the hull...the holes have been patched, and it's at about ninety percent integrity. The weapons bays took a bit of a beating, and they're charging up, but hopefully they should be ready if we run into trouble."

"How ready are we for battle?" Troy asked him.

"We should be able to answer if we're attacked." Noah answered. "My recommendation though...if we don't HAVE to fight for the next couple of hours, it's best we avoid it."

"That might not be an option, but we can fight smarter." Gia chipped in. "We have the other Zords ready to go if we hit trouble, and despite the tin-foil wonder here's marvellous piloting skills..."

"HEY!" Orion protested, but a glare from Gia quickly silenced him. She was one of his supporters, and all things considered it really wasn't a terrible shot. She had a right to be angry, all of them did. In the grand scheme of things, if all he was going to get was a few barbs after all the trouble he caused, he was getting off lightly.

"We do still have the Q-Rex, so that makes two Megazords." Gia told them. "The Fancy didn't exactly leave unscathed either. If it does show up, it's not like we're reduced to colourful language."

"Well, it wasn't a total loss." Jake said, throwing some Ranger Keys onto the table. It was the Magna Defender, Sentinel Knight, Blue Centurion and Lauren's Red Ranger keys. "We have taken four more of his puppets, so that's four more keys to the collection."

"Not to mention the Lightspeed Keys." Emma answered. "So there's another five."

"So not including the six Corsair keys...that's 94 in total!" Noah said as a thought occurred to him. "Whoa yeah! We hit a hundred guys! We now have a hundred keys!" *

"Well, there are still more to get." Gia reminded him. "We still haven't gotten the Time Force or Dino Thunder keys."

"Not to mention the six Lafitte still has." Emma reminded them. "So...another fifteen to go."

"That'll have to wait." Troy reminded them. "The first priority is getting to Dana and getting her to Briarwood safely. We've already been forced to leave a comrade once; we aren't going to do that again. Our search will have to wait."

Tensou couldn't contain his joy hearing this. Although there were only two teams left to find, it was still something of a luxury knowing that he would have a while to wait before one of his friends hit him over the head again.

"Tensou, have you compiled something about Lafitte from what Orion told you?" Troy asked him. Tensou landed and projected a three dimensional hologram into the middle of the table, which rotated slowly, showing Lafitte in his true form. Orion had described everything he had seen in detail, and Tensou had searched every one of his files for anything like what he had seen. It seemed like he had hit pay dirt, something that was obvious to the Rangers as soon as they saw Orion's reaction to seeing the creature before him.

"Is this...?"

"That's what I saw." Orion interrupted him bluntly. Tensou just shook his head.

"I was afraid you'd say that." Tensou replied. "Lafitte isn't human, something we already suspected. His kind, the Luralians, were believed...hoped...to be extinct."

"Hoped?" Emma asked. The conservationist in her always found it odd to hear anyone talking about HOPING for the extinction of a species, but given the nature of the one they had met...she wasn't entirely sure she could argue she could understand the sentiment.

"They were a species that thrived on hunting; on plundering...at one time they made most of the galaxy virtually impossible to navigate." Tensou told them. "Pirates, slavers and predators...they would attack anyone who had resources for sport as much as survival. At one time, only about one in ten trade ships would pass through the galaxy safely. It was a concerted effort by the Eltarians, the Xyberians and the Triforians to secure trade routes that made any form of exploration feasible. In a massive purge, they set out to destroy them completely. They thought they were successful."

"Given how strong Lafitte is, I'm not surprised it wasn't easy." Orion added.

"But they WERE almost wiped out." Troy reminded them. "That means they CAN be killed."

"I guess it's kind of a moot point to hope for a peaceful solution by now." Jake sighed.

"Once his kind got their mind set on plunder, there was no stopping them. It was an obsession to them, something they would do anything for, sacrifice anything or anyone for." Tensou explained. "There is no way to reason with Lafitte now he's got his heart set on the Ranger Keys."

"Then I guess we're in for a fight." Troy replied. "He's never going to let up; he's going to come after us, even if we do get the other keys. This has to end! Everyone get some rest. Once Dana's safe, we have a Privateer to bring down."

In Mariner Bay, Dana was heading out of the on-call room of Silver Hills General Hospital, getting ready to go when she looked up, seeing a commotion. She furrowed her brows as she looked to see what was going on. It didn't look or sound like a Ranger battle, that would be much more of a fuss...as she strained to see, she saw some men standing in very familiar dark coveralls, most of them wearing caps with a logo in silver thread on them. One of them was wearing a red beret though, and by the looks of things, he was leading them.

"Silver Guardians?" She asked. "What are they doing here?"

"You...you don't know?" A doctor asked as he was passing. Dana just looked to him blankly. "You know that some cities have started fighting back right? That since the Rangers showed up, some cities are defying Armada rule?"

"Yeah, of course I do." Dana answered.

"Well...in Silver Hills, the Silver Guardians have kind of taken up the militant arm of the resistance here." He explained. "Any forces that have shown up here, they've been destroying for the last couple of months! Commander Collins and General Myers have pretty much declared Silver Hills a no-go zone for The Armada and declared war!"

"I always knew they were ambitious." Dana said with a smile. The doctor looked at her curiously. "I met them both...um...never mind."

"Hey, there she is!" The guy with the red beret called out as he pointed down the hall. He started making his way towards her purposefully. As he got closer though, Dana realised this was someone that she didn't know. She had thought it might be Wes or Eric, but it was someone she hadn't met before.

"Um...can I help you?" Dana asked.

"Dana Mitchell, Pink Lightspeed Ranger?" He asked. Dana just looked to him.

"Yes, that's me." She answered.

"Captain Wayne Richards, Silver Guardians." He told her. "I've been sent to bring you in."

"Look, I appreciate the sentiment, but I'm waiting on getting picked up." She told him. "Tell Wes and Eric I appreciate..."

"This isn't a request." He put down flatly. Dana just looked up at him.

"Look, I don't know who you are, but I don't appreciate..."

"And I don't appreciate you Ranger types showing up whenever you damn well please, bringing God knows what kind of trouble with you!" He snapped in response. "You're a wanted fugitive, and coming here, you've painted a huge bulls-eye on the city! I've been told to bring you in for your own safety."

"Look, I know I could attract some trouble, but like I said, I'll be out of here soon enough!" She insisted.

"Not soon enough for my liking." He replied as he pulled out some zip-cuffs. "I was told to bring you in, but don't think I'm above arresting you to do it!"

"On what charge?" Dana asked. The man moved closer.

"Protective Custody." He told her. "Now, are you going to come quietly?"

Dana didn't like this situation at all. She considered her options, realising that she was surrounded. The doctor in her wouldn't allow her to start anything in the hospital. It would only risk the staff or patients being hurt. Instead, she dutifully turned around and put her hands behind her back, letting Wayne cuff her, before two of his men grabbed her roughly and started to drag her down the corridor.

"I hope you still think this is worth it when I get to Guardians HQ. She told him. "I doubt Wes and Eric are going to be happy with this."

Wayne didn't say anything, just leading her out of the hospital, as staff and patients watched on in confusion.

Up on the Armada Flagship, Prince Vekar was training in the holo-chamber, taking part in a simulation battle. All things considered, this part of the training was actually...fun!

He was having the time of his life, running around, cutting down enemies with his sword, treating the whole thing like a video game. Argus just watched as he rushed at a firing line of soldiers, throwing himself into them with childish glee. Their blasts, being holograms, passed through him without so much as slowing him down, while he cut them to pieces with ease. The whole exercise was exactly what Prince Vekar loved most. He had the opportunity to inflict suffering and carnage, with absolutely no danger of being hurt in response. As he cut down the last of his enemies, he turned to Argus, flailing wildly.

"Did you see that?" He yelled. "Did you see me in action? I was unstoppable!"

Argus just unfolded his arms.

"That was another warm-up." Argus told him. "I have something more challenging in mind for you."

"I am ready!" Prince Vekar declared confidently, swinging his sword around wildly as his adrenaline and excitement got the better of him. "I could take on anybody! I could cut down anything you put before me! I could..."

His words tailed off as the door closed, and he realised Argus was no longer in the room.

"Argus?" Prince Vekar asked. A hatch opened up in the floor, and something started to rise out of it. Prince Vekar saw an X-borg standing before him. It powered up, and looked straight at him. He just started laughing.

"Are you kidding me?" Prince Vekar asked him. "I just defeated an army, and you send me an X-borg?"

Just then, the X-borg slammed a hand into his chest, staggering him. He just looked up to it in shock.

"That...that hurt!" He stated.

"That X-borg is quite real." Argus' voice said through the PA system. Prince Vekar just glared at it.

"Well, it shouldn't DARE to lay a hand on its Prince!" He yelled. "I'm going to have you scrapped for this! Power down!"

The X-borg swung its club, connecting with Prince Vekar's shoulder. He looked at it in horror.

"Did you hear me? Power down!" Prince Vekar yelled at it.

"I have disabled its over-ride, it will not shut down." Argus told him. "I have programmed it with you as a target."

Prince Vekar was sent tumbling away as it blasted him in the chest. He scrambled to the door, mashing down on the controls to no effect.

"I have also disabled the doors. They can only be opened from this side."

"Argus, what is the meaning of this you treacherous...?"

"Simulations are one thing, but only true battles are an adequate test of skill." Argus told him. "I have disabled the safety protocols on that X-borg. It will try to destroy you. There is only one way to stop it."

Prince Vekar rushed at it, batting aside one of its blasts as another burned his arm. He kept going despite the pain, and sliced the machine in two with one blow. He looked up to the cameras.

"There, I did it!" Prince Vekar stated.

"That...was round one." Argus answered. Just then, five more hatches opened, and five more X-borgs rose into the room. As they all powered up, Prince Vekar gripped his sword tightly.

"You maniac!" He screamed as he prepared to fight for his life. "I'll have you melted down into a tea pot for this!"

**A/N: **Just a reminder that for the remainder of the week, I will be unable to post anything new...I was just fortunate enough to squeeze this out before I go. Hopefully you all enjoy it.

Oh, and as for the * Yes...I did do the maths...and yes...I do have a headache! LOL!


	13. Hostage Handover

In Silver Hills, in a tall office block, a man was sitting in his office, staring out over the city. He poured some mineral water into a glass as he looked out, allowing his answering machine to deal with his calls.

Wes wasn't normally the kind of guy to rubber-ear people calling his office, but things were becoming pretty tense in the city as of late. He knew that was going to be a natural consequence of his decision to increase his forces and actively push back against the occasional Armada incursions into the city. When the initial invasion had come, the only reason the Silver Guardians were allowed to exist, and not crushed without mercy was because The Commodore didn't consider them a military force. Only covering once city, and only having a few hundred employees at the time, combined with the fact they performed some minor law enforcement duties such as handing out speeding tickets and parking citations meant he saw them more as glorified traffic wardens. It was, at the time, a reasonably accurate assessment, but things changed.

As the former Time Force Red Ranger, Wes had wanted to resist when the invasion came, he wanted to start the fight to expel them from the planet, but without explanation his morpher, which had still been working since Jen and her friends had left it with him after his Ranger days, suddenly stopped working. Eric's Quantum Morpher had also lost all power, which had left both of them in the same situation as everyone else on Earth...powerless to resist the invasion.

It was something of a hit to his ego to have to bow and scrape, to sit back and do nothing as The Armada's forces took control and rely on the latest team, to the best of anyone's knowledge, the only Ranger team to still have any form of powers.

They had made a lot of progress however. Within weeks of the Corsair Rangers showing up with their new powers, The Armada had withdrawn most of their ground forces to prevent them being targeted at their outposts. Shortly after that, they had decimated their fleet in space. Many cities had started to offer resistance as more and more people started to believe that it was possible The Armada could be beaten. Wes had not wasted the time that The Armada had gifted them when they believed the Silver Guardians to be no threat to them, and had put the Collins' family fortune and their companies to work, stockpiling weapons under the table. By the time The Armada had started to pull out of their outposts, their arsenal was a match for the few forces that remained behind. They had since spearheaded the resistance movement that had liberated Silver Hills. Their numbers started to swell as more and more people started to believe in their cause and signed up to join the fight. While at one time, the private security firm had a few hundred members...now they had a couple of thousand!

He had to admit that things had been easier when his morpher worked. Not only did he prefer to deal with threats himself, and as such limit the number of others whose safety relied on him, it was also a significant amount of firepower. His companies had provided the Silver Guardians with a huge arsenal of energy weapons, but they had their limits. After all, the weapons he had access to through his morpher were the result of a millennia of technological advancement.

He looked around as the door opened and Eric came in. He and Eric had shared the responsibility of leading the Silver Guardians ever since the end of their Ranger days...although since Mr Collins had passed, Wes had to take care of his family businesses too, meaning that over time, their jobs had taken on different roles. These days, Wes concentrated on the administrative side of things while Eric took care of things at the ground level.

"Hey Eric." Wes greeted him. "What's happening?"

"We've got word from the hospital." Eric told him. "Apparently the operation went well."

"I'm glad to hear it." Wes stated. "Dana always was good. I'll be glad to catch up with her when she gets here."

"She's...she's coming here?" Eric asked him, looking a little confused. Wes just nodded.

"Yeah, a team went out to collect her a while back." Wes answered. "Wayne took one of the transports and a team a while ago..."

"It's the first I've heard about it." Eric interrupted him. Wes immediately picked up the phone and dialled, getting an answer pretty much straight away.

"Dr Stewart...yes, it's Wesley Collins, Silver Guardians. I just wanted to ask about Dr Mitchell..."

Wes' words tailed off as he listened to what the doctor had to tell him.

"Alright, that's good to know...I just wanted to confirm that. Thanks for your time." Wes concluded, hanging up the phone. He looked to Eric as he got up, taking his hand blaster from its safe and priming it, putting it in his holster.

"Get a car." Wes told him. "We've got a big problem."

As the Red Galleon arrived back within the city limits of Silver Hills, the Rangers were all gearing themselves up, ready for trouble. Although they were only there to pick up Dana and bring her to Briarwood, they wanted to be ready for anything. At present, she was the only Ranger whose identity was public knowledge that hadn't been evacuated to a safe location. While everyone understood Dana's decision to go ahead with the transplant operation before she went into hiding, and most even admired her in a way for her conviction, every moment she was in the open they were under no false impressions that she was a target.

"OK, this isn't good." Noah stated. "I've got massive energy signatures...a significant Armada force in the city."

"Great, that's all we need." Jake remarked.

"Let's just stick to the plan guys, we go in, get Dana and get out again." Troy reminded them.

"Uh...yeah...about that." Gia said as she hung up her morpher. "I just talked to the hospital...they said that some guys from the Silver Guardians picked her up a while ago."

"The Silver Guardians?" Emma asked. "Dad did some joint work with them a few years ago. They're a private security firm in the city."

"Yeah...when I say picked up...it sounds pretty much like she was arrested." Gia told them. "The guy I spoke to said that she was taken out of there in handcuffs. The guy that took her said something about protective custody."

"That doesn't sound good." Jake responded as he looked to Emma. "Where would they take her?"

"I'll hack into their communications." Noah told them as he worked on his computer. It only took a moment for him to gain access.

"Repeat, be on the lookout for transport 516, a vehicle absent without consent." The voice on the radio said as they listened in. "The vehicle is thought to be carrying Dr Dana Mitchell, taken from Silver Hills General Hospital within the last hour."

"OK, that definitely doesn't sound good." Jake interjected. The others all just shooshed him into silence as they listened to the broadcast.

"I repeat, she is in the company of Captain Wayne Richards. He has been UA since..."

"Unauthorised Absence." Noah sighed. "Why do I get the feeling this isn't good."

"Wayne Richards...that name sounds familiar." Jake commented. He then looked to Gia and Emma, both of whom seemed to be more than a little pale after hearing the name.

"We really need to find her." Emma told them. "I have a really bad feeling about this."

Meanwhile, in the back of a jeep, heading through the streets of Silver Hills, Dana was sitting, still restrained, in the back seat as Wayne and the other Guardians continued along the road. She found herself looking around as they passed a road sign.

"That's the third exit you've missed." She commented, looking to Wayne. "You're taking kind of a roundabout route."

Wayne didn't answer, instead gesturing to the driver, giving him some instructions. Dana looked to Wayne thoughtfully.

"We're...we're not going to Guardian Head Quarters are we?" She asked him. He turned around in his seat to look at her.

"We're going..."

"I might be from Mariner Bay, but I spent a fair bit of time here back in the day." She answered. "You're not taking me to Guardian Head Quarters are you?"

Wayne just smiled as she shifted a little in his seat.

"I guess there's no point in pretending any longer then...no, we're not going back to HQ." Wayne told her.

"So where are we going?" Dana asked him.

"You'll see soon enough." He replied as they turned off the road, heading into an industrial estate. The jeep went a little further, before coming to a stop. Wayne and his accomplices got out, coming around and pulling Dana from the car. Wayne grabbed her left upper arm tightly, and started dragging her with him.

"OK, this doesn't look like the kind of place Wes or Eric would want me to be." Dana stated. "What's the story? Where are you taking me?"

"He's taking you to see me." She heard a voice saying as they got to a large roller door. As it rose, she saw a dozen Bruisers standing around an alien, one she recognised from the many broadcasts Vekar had sent out when he first invaded. It was Damaras. She looked to Wayne as he shoved her forward.

"You're turning me in?" Dana asked him incredulously.

"You're a fugitive." Wayne reminded her. "You violated your parole by removing the tracking bracelet..."

"I haven't done anything to you!" Dana protested. Wayne approached her, grabbing her around the throat.

"You Rangers are all the same, you come along and you make a mess that everyone else has to clean up!" He yelled at her. "Prince Vekar told us he was going to let us live in peace, and you and those others just stirred everything up! Look at how often the planet's been attacked!"

"Why...why do you hate us so much?" She asked him. "Why would you hand me over like this?"

"Like I said, if you and your kind would just learn to leave things alone, then maybe, just maybe the rest of us wouldn't have to suffer the fallout!" He snapped in response. He looked to Damaras. "I brought her, just as I promised."

"You did well." Damaras replied as he grabbed Dana from him. He reached behind his cloak and pulled out a small box, handing it to him. "Here, just as we agreed."

"So that's it, you sold out?" Dana asked him. "So what did it take? Thirty pieces of silver?"

Wayne just crossed over to her and hit her with a hard, back-handed slap hearing this. He just looked on her with disgust.

"I haven't sold out ANYONE!" He snarled. "You and your Ranger buddies wrecked EVERYTHING! This is just my way of getting back my son!"

"Your son?" Dana asked. "I've never even MET you, never mind done anything to your son!"

"No, but the Rangers will come for you." Damaras reminded her. "So, I asked Wayne to bring you to me, and just offered him a little...incentive."

"Thanks to your friends, my son's spent the last year in a foam rubber cell!" He told her. "I know Mikey wasn't an angel, but what their mentor, their Gosei did to him left him a raving lunatic! The doctors can't do anything for him!"

"Well, our technology is considerably more advanced than yours." Damaras assured him. "Believe me, give that to your son, and his problems will be over."

"Now this is interesting isn't it?" Lafitte drawled casually as he arrived on the scene with Colo and his remaining six Ranger puppets. The Bruisers all started to power up their weapons, at which the Ranger puppets reached for their weapons. Lafitte just held up a hand to tell them to hold off for a moment. "You don't really want to do this now do you? Do you really want to embarrass yourself? Just hand over the girl and we'll leave without a fuss."

"She's a prisoner of The Armada!" Damaras put down flatly. "She's coming with us!"

"Really?" Lafitte asked him. "Well, let's just see about that."

As he said this, the Ranger puppets ran forward, attacking Damaras and his forces. Lafitte just hung back with Colo as his puppets fought with Damaras' forces.

Up on the Red Galleon, the Rangers were making their way through the sky, following the reports from the police scanner when Noah got a ping on his computer. He sighed as he saw it.

"OK, that big power signature in the city? It just spiked big time!" He informed the team. "It pretty much doubled!"

Just then a power blast flared up, flashing through the sky. The Rangers looked out over the city, lighting up the sky.

"Whoa, that's pretty crazy!" Jake commented. "What do you suppose is going on?"

"The power signatures are going haywire!" Noah informed them. "I think...I think there's some kind of battle going on!"

"Lafitte!" They all called out together.

"Who wants to bet if we get there, we'll find Dana?" Gia asked. Troy switched off the autopilot and took up the controls.

"There's one way to find out." Troy announced. "Everyone get ready, I have a feeling they'll be expecting us."

Back at the scene of the battle, things were not going well for Damaras. He had been separated from Dana, and could only watch as the Ranger Puppets started to lay waste to his vanguard. He called in some reinforcements, but even with the industrial park flooded with X-borgs and Bruisers, Lafitte's Ranger Puppets were far too powerful.

Damaras rolled aside, clutching a horrendous wound in his side and glared at Lafitte. The pirate hadn't bothered to join the battle himself. He was just standing with Colo, watching as his puppets did the dirty work for him.

Damaras was about to renew his attack when he saw the Red Galleon starting to come into view over the rooftops. He cursed his luck, as he saw this. Lafitte and his forces were already more than his contingent could handle. Damaras activated a command on his armour and teleported from the scene as the Corsair Rangers rapelled down to the ground to join the fight.

"Man, can you believe this?" Noah asked. "There's a ton of these guys! It's like Comicon with fists!"

"Is anyone else tempted to just LET them all tear each other apart?" Jake asked in response.

"There's Dana!" Emma called out as they rushed into battle, seeing Dana in cover, trying to keep out of the worst of the danger. Wayne was kneeling over her, with his blaster drawn; making sure his prisoner didn't flee the scene. She gulped as she saw him, realising that her fear was well-founded.

"Hey, I know that guy." Jake called out as he took out a Bruiser. "Isn't that...?"

"It's Spider's dad." Emma confirmed. All things considered, none of them could really be too surprised that Wayne held no real love for the Rangers. Spider had found out the identity of the Rangers and tried to blackmail them to keep himself from facing a jail term for his part in terror attacks in Harwood. It didn't end well; Gosei had done...something...to him, that left him virtually catatonic and needing to be committed to full-time psychiatric care. The last time any of them had seen him was when he left Harwood after finding out Emma was a Ranger.

"It looks like he was trying to turn Dana in." Gia announced as she fought with the Kat Ranger.

"Then if we have to, we take him down too!" Troy told them as he faced off with the Wolf Warrior, all the time looking for a way through to face Lafitte. The pirate just smiled as he saw the Rangers.

"It seems everything is going just as I planned it." He said casually. He turned to Colo, holding out a large, heavy chain, bearing a medallion of some description. He gestured to Colo to bend down, and placed it around his neck.

"Remember what we discussed." Lafitte told him. "Do not fail."

With that, he gestured to Colo to enter the battle. With a huge, bellowing roar, the massive gorilla charged into the fray, making a bee-line straight for Wayne, grabbing him and throwing him aggressively into a wall. Wayne hit the concrete and slid down the wall, clearly unconscious as Colo grabbed Dana, throwing her over his shoulder.

"He's got Dana!" Emma yelled.

"I'm on it!" Orion responded as he rammed his Silver Spear through the Shadow Ranger, destroying him and turning him back into his Ranger Key form. He ran straight for his former team mate, attacking him in a fury as he tried to get Dana away from him.

"Orion needs help!" Troy interjected as he hit the female Red Samurai with a full-power pistol blast, taking her out. "Whatever happens, we can't let Lafitte get her!"

Lafitte meanwhile, just watched as the Rangers cut down both sides. He had seen them gaining the advantage, taking down both sides. He knew they were strong, that much hadn't escaped his notice. At one time, he'd had about twenty Ranger keys...now, he could only watch as the last six fell to the Rangers. Emma took out the White Mystic Ranger, while Gia finished off the Black Lion Warrior as they all rushed to surround Colo, attacking him and driving him away from Dana. Eventually, the Rangers all stood defiantly, separating Lafitte and Colo from the former Pink Lightspeed Ranger.

"It's over Lafitte!" Troy announced. "That's the last of your puppets! Just walk away while you still have your life!"

"If you think this is the end of the game, you are sadly mistaken." Lafitte told him.

"Would you just give it UP?" Jake yelled in exasperation. "You only have that overgrown chimp left! Give it up you idiot!"

"Oh yes, thank you for reminding me." Lafitte answered as he looked to Colo. "I am sorry, but I did warn you."

The Rangers all watched as he drew his pistol. Colo started to back away in panic, holding up his hands, pleading for his life. They could only watch as Lafitte opened fire, blasting Colo several times. There was a huge crash as the armoured gorilla hit the ground and stopped moving.

"You failed me for the last time." Lafitte told him, looking to the Rangers. "Enjoy my Ranger keys...while you can."

With that, he teleported away, leaving the Rangers dumbfounded.

"He...he just...he took out his own guy!" Jake stammered. Orion just sighed.

"It wouldn't be the first time." He reminded them as he went to Dana, breaking the zip cuffs restraining her. "We should..."

"Guys!" Emma called out as they were about to leave. She made her way over to Colo slowly. They watched as she knelt down near him, inspecting him thoughtfully.

"Emma, we don't have time..."

"He's still breathing!" She told them. "He's weak, but he's still breathing!"

"Good for him, let's go!" Jake replied. Gia looked to Emma, who powered down, looking at them with begging eyes. She just glared at Emma.

"I know that look." Gia commented.

"We can't leave him here." Emma stated. "We have to help him!"

"Emma!" Troy protested.

"Please, he's going to die!" She protested.

"Emma...it's not like he's a bird with a broken wing or a sick badger." Gia told him.

"He's an 800 pound gorilla!" Noah reminded her.

"We can't leave him here." Emma stated. "When the authorities come...what if he hurts someone else? At least if we take him with us, we can make sure he doesn't hurt anyone else."

"Emma..."

"Besides, Lafitte turned on him. He probably wants payback. Maybe if we help him, he can help us figure out how to beat him." Emma suggested to Troy, approaching him slowly, looking him straight in the eyes, giving him that look she did whenever she REALLY wanted something that he was almost powerless to resist. "Please?"

"We'll take him with us." Troy sighed, realising he had lost this one.

"And...how are we meant to do that exactly?" Jake asked. "He weighs like 800 pounds...WITHOUT armour!"

"So lift with your knees, not your back." Troy said with a shrug as he, held Dana and used his grapel to shoot back to the Red Galleon. Gia and Emma followed him, leaving Noah, Jake and Orion behind. Noah just looked to Colo's prone form and groaned.

"Alright, the sooner we start this, the sooner we finish." Noah said as he grabbed one of Colo's massive arms. "Jake, get his other arm, Orion...you get his legs."

**A/N: **I'm BACK! Yes, sorry for the hiatus...believe me, it was as much of a drag for me as it was for you. A week in another city and all I saw was the inside of a hotel...got to hate business trips! Anyway, thanks for your patience, and hopefully you enjoy the chapter.


	14. Caring for a Stray

Back on the Red Galleon, the Rangers, along with Dana, were crowded around a bench they had set up in one of the secure storage rooms. They weren't really in the habit of taking prisoners, so they didn't have a cell per-se, but the Galleon did have secure rooms in the hold that were meant to allow them to carry valuables. Although Colo was unconscious when they brought him in, they didn't really think that allowing him free run of the ship was exactly the best idea. Dana was checking over him as much as she could. She was a doctor, not a vet, but fortunately since he was at his core a primate, most of his body wasn't TOO dissimilar to that of a human.

"Well, I'd be happier if I could get this damned armour off to check him out properly." Dana commented. "But I couldn't even begin to figure out how to remove it."

"I can't tell how it's been sealed on." Noah confirmed as he finished his own inspection. "He doesn't SEEM to be bleeding...I guess for now we have to leave it on."

"He's in no immediate danger." Dana sighed. "So the question is...what do we do with him?"

"We can't just let him go, not until we know he's not going to cause any harm." Gia responded. "For now, I guess we have to keep him here."

"That door's designed to withstand an ammo explosion." Noah told them. "I think it should be able to hold him."

"Wait...this is the ammo store?" Jake asked, looking around, noticing that the room was remarkably empty. He, Orion and Noah had the unenviable task of carrying Colo onto the ship. "So what did we do with the ammo?"

"Uh...just...don't go jumping on your bed or anything like that." Gia replied sheepishly.

"You hid the ammo under my bed?" Jake asked.

"Hey, there's ammo in our room too!" Gia assured him. "What? It had to go somewhere!"

"We'll keep an eye on Colo for now." Troy stated. "When we can be sure he isn't going to harm anyone else...I guess the Animarium would be a place he could be happy."

"I feel so bad for him." Emma remarked. "He did everything for Lafitte, and he just...he gunned him down just like that."

"It's not like Lafitte really values trust and loyalty." Orion responded bitterly. "He only values his followers as long as they're useful to him. I guess he figured Colo was past his expiration date."

"Well, he's weak right now." Dana told them. "It's for the best we let him rest. Lafitte really did a number on him."

"We'll check back on him in a little while." Troy answered as they left the room, locking the heavy door behind them. He looked to the others as he tried to figure out what to do next. "So...next question, what do we do about Wayne?"

"I checked the police scanners. The Silver Guardians picked him up shortly after we left." Noah told them.

"Well, that's one good thing." Dana responded.

"How is that a good thing?" Emma asked. It was only natural she felt a little badly for Wayne. Even though he was trying to sell Dana to Damaras, he only did it because he thought he could get a treatment that would return his son to normal. It didn't seem right that he would get into trouble because he was trying to undo something that Gosei had done in the first place.

"I know the heads of the Silver Guardians, Wes and Eric very well." She informed them. "They won't let anything bad happen to him until they get to the bottom of things."

"How do you know that?" Jake asked her.

"Because we teamed up with them back in the day." Dana informed them. "They were Time Force Red and the Quantum Ranger."

"We met the rest of the Time Force, they didn't have the keys." Gia recalled. "I guess now we know where we're likely to find them."

"So I DON'T have to get bashed over the head again?" Tensou asked.

"It looks that way." Troy told him. "But those keys will have to wait. We should get Dana to Briarwood first."

"But..."

"No, you've done more than enough for us." Troy told her. "We said we'd get you to safety, and that's exactly what we plan to do. The other Ranger keys can wait."

"Yeah, I mean...the other Ranger teams are still hidden right?" Noah asked her. "And without his Ranger puppets, Lafitte's hunting them all by himself! We're sure to be quicker off the mark than him."

"Alright, I feel like I'm saying this a lot, but...set a course for Briarwood." Troy told Noah. "Everyone else rest up. We did good work today, but I have a feeling Lafitte's not done yet."

Meanwhile, up on The Armada Command Ship, Argus finally opened the door, heading inside to where he had left Prince Vekar in a fight for his life against a legion of robots. He had steadily sent more and more robots, making the test steadily harder. In his final bout of the day, Prince Vekar was forced to face a pair of Bruisers. One of them already lay in ruins on the floor, as he faced off against the other, struggling to find a gap in its defences.

As he finally managed to close the gap, he cut off its arms, depriving it of weapons, before running it through with his sword. The robot fell to the floor with a loud crash as Vekar fell to his knees, breathing heavily and glistening with sweat. Argus came over towards him.

"You have done well Your Highness." He complimented him, offering him a hand to his feet. Prince Vekar just shoved him away.

"You tin plated traitor!" Prince Vekar screamed. "What do you think you're doing? I could have been killed!"

"You were not." Argus reminded him.

"But I could have been!" Prince Vekar screamed at him. "Those things had their safety protocols disabled! They were trying to destroy me! If I hadn't..."

His words tailed off as he suddenly realised something. He panned his gaze around the room, looking at the wreckage before him. He wasn't exactly unaccustomed to such destruction. Having had a mean streak a mile wide since he was born, he had began by wrecking almost every toy he had ever owned, and torturing every pet, and even those children that had been paid, ordered and in some cases forced to play with him. In his campaign across the galaxy, he had ordered so many atrocities, purely for his own amusement, that the sight of entire civilisations enslaved or slaughtered, and whole planets in ruin were some of his favourite sights.

He had as little regard for his own followers as he had for others, and so the sight of broken robots was nothing unusual...but this was for some reason. He had actually done this himself. Each broken X-borg and Bruiser was an accomplishment. It was the first time he had destroyed anything personally since he was a child. It felt...good.

"Your kind has such power from the age they are able to lift a blade." Argus informed him. "You will only get stronger as you push yourself. The strength you showed today was always there. It just needed to be harnessed, to be directed."

"I...I've never..." Prince Vekar started to stammer. Argus just gestured to the door.

"I have a meal waiting in your room, and droids will attend to your injuries." Argus told him. "Rest up...tomorrow your training will be more challenging."

As he threw his sword aside and left the room, every one of Prince Vekar's muscles ached, but the images of destruction swirling around in his head emboldened him. A sick smile crossed his face as he imagined how much more destruction could occur at his hands.

In the underwater base, Lafitte arrived back to find Vrak in his lab, upgrading his systems. He looked to Lafitte as he came in, casually pouring himself a drink.

"Well, that was disappointing." He muttered. Lafitte just shrugged.

"I am leveraging assets." Lafitte told him.

"Every time I see you, you appear to come back weaker than before!" Vrak yelled as he turned around in his chair, glaring at him. "You have failed!"

"You've only failed when you are no longer able to plunder." Lafitte told him. "As my father once told me, as long as you live, you can make a profit."

"You have lost all your Ranger Puppets, destroyed your own henchman...and your ship is practically hanging together with duct tape!" Vrak reminded him. "I fail to see how you can consider that a strong position!"

"I'm merely leveraging assets." Lafitte told him with a smile. "Trust me."

Back on the Red Galleon, Jake came into Orion's room, finding the Silver Ranger in the middle of one of his prayer ceremonies. He had a bowl filled with a strange smelling tea that he had brewed sitting on a nearby bench, and was sitting, chanting to himself. Sweat dripped down him as he muttered and hummed. Jake approached him carefully, not wanting to interrupt him. While he hadn't been a staunch practitioner of his faith, having even reluctantly given up his Kosher diet out of convenience on the ship, but a lot of his family always had been very observant. Orion's faith might seem bizarre and at times nonsensical to him, but he had to admit that there were things about his own beliefs that seemed bizarre to people that didn't observe them.

As he sat in the corner, waiting for Orion to finish, he noticed something odd about Orion's ritual, something he hadn't noticed before. His ritual now incorporated the Silver Ranger morpher. He hadn't seen Orion with it during his prayers before, but this time, he appeared to be holding it as he performed his chant. Eventually, Orion finished and opened his eyes, seeing Jake sitting in the room.

"Jake?" He asked.

"I just...wanted to check everything was alright." Jake told him. Orion just looked to him a little curiously. It was no secret that he and Jake didn't really get along that well. Orion didn't really have anything against Jake, but Jake seemed to have a difficult time accepting that Orion had taken the spot on the team that everyone had believed would go to Jordan when he returned from The Library. Orion got up a little cautiously. Jake had never really sought him out other than to attack him for whatever latest mistake Orion had made.

"Fine." Orion answered as he looked to Jake. "Um...can I help you with something?"

"I just wanted to see if...this thing with Lafitte..." Jake started to say awkwardly. "He's still out there."

"Yes, he is." Orion answered. "I know I should never have faced him..."

"I...I understand why you did it." Jake told him. Orion had to admit being a little taken aback by this. He couldn't really remember Jake agreeing with him on anything before. "I'm not saying its right or anything, but...I get why you did it."

Jake started looking around Orion's room as he tried to figure out what he wanted to say.

"I haven't...I've not always had a whole lot of control over my temper." Jake informed him. He tapped his own chest. "It just used to build inside me. It would get so much that it would feel really uncomfortable, that it would hurt here, like something was growing inside me and it just needed to be let out."

Orion nodded in understanding. He had felt this feeling Jake was talking about. Jake looked to him a little apologetically.

"My temper got me into a lot of trouble in the past." Jake informed him. "I spent a few weeks in Juvenile Hall a couple of years back because I got into a fight with some kid who wouldn't leave me alone because I was Jewish and he got hurt really badly. The year after that...I almost did the same thing again. A guy hurt Gia really badly, told everyone something very personal about her that she wasn't ready for people to know. I just...I lost it, and even though I knew the harm it could do, I just couldn't let it go."

"That's how I feel whenever I think about Lafitte, or The Armada." Orion confirmed. "I try, but sometimes, it's difficult for me to separate my revenge from what is the right thing."

"That is a tough thing. I know at times I have a hard time figuring that out." Jake told him. "I...I guess I could teach you some of the stuff that my therapist taught me that helped me."

"I would appreciate that." Orion told him with a smile. "I think...this is perhaps the first conversation we had that didn't end in some form of fight. I suppose we have something in common after all."

"I guess we do." Jake agreed with a small laugh. "I wish it was a love of soccer or something..."

"Right, soccer...Tensou told me a little bit about that." Orion stated. "I watched one of those games in your World Cup. It is very similar to one of the games we used to play on Andresia, Ghorkash."

"Ghorkash?" Jake asked him.

"Maybe when we have some time, I could teach you?" Orion offered. "If you enjoy soccer as much as Tensou says you do, then I'd bet you would enjoy Ghorkash."

"I'd like that." Jake answered as they left the room. "Anyway, I guess it's time we relieved Emma from pet-watching duty."

"Emma really likes animals doesn't she?" Orion chuckled. "Even the dangerous ones."

"Gia once told me that one time, she brought home a sick racoon." Jake said with a small laugh. "She insisted Gia help her hide it in her dad's basement while she nursed it back to health."

"I'm guessing her dad wouldn't have liked that." Orion surmised.

"I'll bet." Jake replied. "Apparently the racoon was hiding in the laundry basket when he tried to put on a load. Apparently Emma learned a lot of new words when it bit him."

"I WAS only eight!" Emma protested as they arrived, hearing them end the story, crossing her arms defiantly.

"Come on Emma, it's a funny story!" Gia said as she got up from the chair by the door to the armoury and left with Emma. "Come on, we'll get some rest."

Later, in the dead of night, the ship was silent as the Rangers had all finally gone to sleep. In the make-shift cell the Rangers had created for him in the Armoury, Colo started to stir, pulling himself up on the bench. He looked around, getting his bearings in the room, and headed towards the door.

Colo took the necklace Lafitte had given him and placed it against the lock on the door. The mechanism of the in-built lock-pick activated, and sprung the lock, allowing him to open the door.

Colo moved surprisingly quietly for a huge, armoured gorilla. As he made his way through the ship, there was no sign of the Rangers. As far as he could tell, they were all fast asleep, just as he had predicted.

He got through to the main room, the massive gorilla smiled as he saw his target. Sitting right next to Troy's chair on the main deck was the chest full of Ranger Keys.

He made his way across the room, and reached out, picking up the chest, tucking it under his right arm, before heading up for the main deck, taking care not to make too much noise. Once he was there, he took one last look around, before activating a tracking device in his necklace, and leaping out into the night, taking the chest with him.

It was a little while later that Colo found a suitable clearing in the woods to wait for Lafitte, knowing he would need space to land The Fancy. Colo had built a fire, and was sitting on the chest, waiting patiently for his master to return. He looked up as The Fancy finally came into view, and started to descend, landing a short way from him. The massive gorilla picked up the chest, waiting to present his prize proudly to his master as the gangway to the ship opened and Lafitte stepped out, making his way towards him.

"You have it?" Lafitte asked. Colo threw the chest over to him, at which Lafitte caught it, and grinned brightly. He looked up to his hulking henchman. "Well, you have truly outdone yourself this time Colo. You will be greatly rewarded for..."

He opened the chest and looked inside, his words tailing off. He looked back to Colo.

"Now...can you tell me what exactly is wrong with THIS picture?" Lafitte asked him as he turned the chest around. Colo looked inside, and felt his heart sinking as inside, he saw only engine parts to give weight to the chest. Colo looked to his master as he threw the chest aside. He raised his hands, wordlessly begging for mercy as Lafitte just glared at him.

"I warned you Colo, you had one last chance!" He snarled as he pulled out his pistol. Just then, the Rangers all appeared from the undergrowth, surrounding Colo. They were all morphed, and had their weapons at the ready, facing him down.

"Did you really think we'd fall for that?" Troy asked him.

"You think you're so clever don't you?" Lafitte asked him. "Well, you were still stupid enough to show up! Colo, this is it! Get them!"

"Colo, don't!" Emma implored him, looking to the gorilla. "Look what he did to you just to get you on our ship!"

Colo looked at his injuries, and back to Emma.

"Lafitte doesn't care about you! He only wants you for what you can do for him!" Emma continued. "We knew you were still under his control, and we looked after you! We tended to your injuries, we kept you safe! What's Lafitte done other than threaten and belittle you?"

Colo paused as he considered what Emma had said. Troy came closer, and put a hand on Colo's shoulder.

"We'll set you free, somewhere you can be happy." Troy told him. "Lafitte's no good to you."

Lafitte watched the scene unfolding and rolled his eyes.

"Oh please, I think I need to lose my lunch." He muttered. Emma and the other Rangers all started to advance on him.

"We're done here Lafitte." Jake stated, levelling his pistol at the pirate. "Just leave now while you can!"

"Oh, you're right about one thing...we are done here." Lafitte told them, holding up a handset. He then looked to Colo. "Oh, and this time, you die for real. Sorry about that."

As he pushed a button on the handset, Troy saw a light on the necklace start to flash. He grabbed Colo and pushed him backwards, at which the necklace exploded. The entire team was thrown to the ground by the explosion. Being closer to Colo when it went off, Troy was de-morphed, and hit the ground, unmoving. The rest of them were all stunned, and disorientated by the blast. Lafitte turned into his true form as the dust started to clear, advancing on his vulnerable foes.


	15. Troy's Choice

There was a haze, a dull haze, and all the sounds swirled into a strange choir of echos that made no sense. Light only barely started to break through the fog. As the images started to clear a little, all he could see were...feet. Three pairs of feet coming towards him. Someone knelt down next to him, and started to say something. He couldn't make out what was being said as he felt hands on him, and was finally able to look up. He saw blonde hair...and a face that wasn't quite in focus yet.

"Troy?" The voice asked, sounding a little clearer this time. "Troy, can you hear me?"

Troy nodded and started to stir, muttering something. Slowly, he started to regain the use of his limbs, but as he started to move, he felt hands on him, holding him.

"Don't try to move." Dana told him as his focus came in a little more clearly. "I still need to check..."

Troy just pushed her away a little, and slowly pulled himself to his knees, and then tried to get to his feet. Dana just sighed.

"Bloody Reds." She muttered. Troy was stumbling a little, but then he felt another couple of hands on him, helping him up. He looked up, seeing a man standing in front of him. He was wearing a red beret, and had dark hair.

"Whoa there, take it easy." He told him. "You're with friends here. Just...take your time. Let Dana make sure everything's where it's meant to be."

"Who...?"

"My name's Eric, I'm with the Silver Guardians." He introduced himself. "I'm the former Quantum Ranger."

"What...what happened?" He asked. "Lafitte..."

"Don't worry about that now." Eric answered. "Just...here, rest up here."

He took Troy over to a log, letting him sit down as Dana came to continue her examination. Troy was still a little fuzzy on what exactly was going on.

"I remember...an explosion..." He started to murmur as they checked on him. "Lafitte...my team..."

"Just try to stay calm." Dana told him.

"But...what happened to my team?" Troy asked in response.

"Um...I'm afraid there's no sign of them." Eric told him.

"It looks like Lafitte tore up the place pretty badly." Wes commented as he stepped into view, putting his blaster away. "There's no sign of the others, and I found this pinned to a tree."

Eric took the note and started to read it. Troy could guess what it was, but he wasn't in any condition to read right now.

"It's from Lafitte." Eric confirmed. "He says that he has your friends. He wants you to bring the Ranger Keys to him in exchange."

Troy's head was still buzzing, but he knew that he didn't have the luxury of time on his side. Lafitte already had a head start. The blast had knocked Troy out cold, and presumably it must have weakened and disorientated his friends enough that he had defeated them in battle. They were now in his grasp.

"He must need you to find the ship." Another voice said. Troy looked up, seeing a familiar looking guy standing a little way off over...something.

"Alex?" He asked. The other man just shook his head.

"No, I'm Wes." He replied. "How did you...?"

"I need to go!" Troy told them, pulling himself up. "I have to..."

"You can barely stand!" Wes protested. "Hell, it's a miracle you didn't end up like Colo here!"

Troy looked to the thing Wes was standing beside, seeing a mass of twisted metal and charred meat. He got a distinct smell of burnt flesh and hair. It was Colo, or at least, what was left of him after the blast. Troy just sighed as he saw it...a memory came to him.

"He...he turned away from me at the last moment." Troy recalled. "He held the bomb to his chest...when he realised Lafitte had betrayed him, he took the brunt of the blast himself. He saved my life."

"Troy, you might be alive, but look at this place!" Eric said, panning a hand around the scene of destruction. "If Lafitte did all this..."

"If I know my team, they'll have given him a few good shots in return." Troy answered as he started to walk away.

"Troy, stop!" Eric called after him. He looked among the former Rangers by him and just sighed, before looking back to him. "If we can't stop you, at least let us help."

Troy thought about it for a moment, before turning back to them.

"Fine, I could probably use it." Troy told them. "Come with me."

Meanwhile, over on The Fancy, Lafitte was sitting in his chair, having a snack to celebrate his impending victory. He snapped his fingers, and pointed to his empty goblet.

"Another." He stated. Emma just sighed and came over, carrying a bottle. A metal collar had been fastened around her neck, from which a short length of chain ran from the front, splitting off into two around the level of her solar plexus, leading to shackles fastened around her wrists. Her steps were restricted to a little over a foot by a pair of shackles locked around her ankles. The bruises and cuts from her last battle were still evident. Under the watchful gaze of her gaoler, and Lafitte's latest Ranger puppet...her own Corsair Ranger form, she made her way to the table, pouring him another cup. He reached up a hand, brushing her hair out of her face, and drawing his fingers across her cheek.

"I'm sorry, I did try not to mark your face." He assured her. Emma just gave him the goblet, before turning to head away from him. He grabbed her arm, stopping her in her tracks. "It doesn't HAVE to be this way you know. Just because I've won doesn't mean we can't come to some kind of arrangement."

"Let go of me." Emma told him. Lafitte just smirked as she said this.

"Please, you should be happy." He told her. "Pretty soon, you won't have Prince Vekar to worry about."

"Oh, and how do you figure that?" She asked him.

"Your Captain is nothing if not predictable." Lafitte assured her. "If he wants you back, he's going to bring the Ranger Keys to me. Once I have them, I'll have an army at my disposal that will be more than a match for any of the forces Vekar has."

"Wait...you intend to take on Vekar?" She asked him. He just smiled.

"You didn't really think I wanted those Ranger Keys to rob a few ships did you?" He asked her. "No doubt your Captain will try to pull some kind of clever trick, will attempt some type of rescue, but you already know how that will end. Once I've got the keys AND all of you, I'll have all I need to bring Vekar to his knees."

"What do you need us for?" Emma asked him.

"Because...I already have a deal in place." He told her. "Prince Vekar has a price on my head even higher than yours. I contacted his general Damaras, and secured an agreement. When I bring in the world's most wanted fugitives...that's you by the way...not only will I get the reward, but a full pardon for all my past crimes."

"If you think..."

"See...that's where the Ranger Keys are really handy." He said with a little smile. He pulled out his trumpet and recalled the Pink Corsair Ranger into its Ranger Key. He showed it to her. "I have no doubt he will try to double-cross me, but thanks to the Ranger Keys...I can walk right onto his ship with a whole army in my pocket without him being any the wiser!"

"You'll unleash the Rangers right on his ship!" Emma said as she realised how he had played this from the beginning. "You'll overwhelm them...destroy them on his own ground! You'll destroy him on his own ship!"

"Once I've done that...the universe and all its infinite plunder will be mine to take at will." He said as he took a sip of his wine. "And with my new army, there will be no limit to the treasures I can claim as my own!"

"And...what about us?" Emma asked him.

"Well, that depends on you." Lafitte replied as he took a bite of an apple, drawing closer to her. "I am always on the lookout for talented new crew. There's no reason this has to be the end of your career as pirates."

"What makes you think we'd believe that?" She asked him. "We know how you treat your crew."

He just looked at her curiously, like he didn't know what she was getting at.

"Marv? Orion? Colo?" She asked. "You've turned on all of them! Colo trusted you, he was loyal to you, he did everything you asked of him and...and you...you murdered him in cold blood!"

"It was nothing personal." He told her, beginning to stroke her hair. "Leveraging those assets at the time was the best course of action. I would rather keep my...treasures."

Emma swept his hand off her, and threw the wine in his face. He just sighed as the Yellow Corsair Ranger approached Emma from behind and held a sabre to her throat in warning.

"Now...that was perfectly good wine." He protested. Emma reluctantly poured him another cup, at which he gestured to her to sit with him. He then gestured to the food on the table.

"Please, eat." He told her. "I prefer having a little company."

"I'm not hungry!" She told him flatly. He just laughed.

"Now that's really not thinking about your team is it?" He asked. "They will eat once you have, and from now on...you will eat with me, or you won't eat at all."

Emma just crossed her arms defiantly. She knew that they would have to eat eventually, but it had only been a couple of hours. It wasn't like any of them were in danger of starving. Lafitte could see her defiance and gestured to a screen. There, she saw Gia, Jake, Noah and Orion all in the cells of Lafitte's ship, all hooked up to a large machine, screaming in agony as it sent high-voltage charges through them at intermittent intervals.

"Oh...and they will only get a break from their...re-conditioning...at meal times." Lafitte told her. Emma couldn't bear to see her friends suffer like that. Begrudgingly, she picked up a knife and fork. "Good choice."

Back on the Red Galleon, Troy had allowed Dana to patch him up as much as time would allow. He knew it would take days, weeks...perhaps longer before he would be a hundred percent. He didn't have the luxury of waiting that long; he knew his friends probably wouldn't have long. Given what he had willingly done to Colo, his most loyal follower, he doubted that the lives of prisoners meant much to Lafitte.

Eric and Wes worked on the tracking system, trying to figure out Noah's new software, the programme he had written to find The Fancy despite its cloaking technology.

"Man, what I wouldn't give to have Trip around right now." Eric muttered.

"Come on Eric, we work with surveillance all the time!" Wes protested. "I think I've just about..."

The screen flashed up the message "Access Denied and an alarm sounded. Eric just laughed.

"Nice going Bill Gates." He teased him. Troy got up from his chair, despite Dana's protests, and started to make his way towards the system and checked it out. He had never had much patience for computers...right now he was wishing he had listened to Noah when he explained his new system. He pounded a fist onto the console and growled.

"We'll find them." Eric assured him. "We just need..."

"Time is one thing we don't have." Troy told him, pulling out his morpher. He opened it up, and opened a communications link.

"What are you doing?" Wes asked him.

"I'm buying you time!" He replied.

"Troy, you can't give him the keys!" Wes protested. "You know he won't honour his agreement, even if you do give him what he wants!"

"Which is why you guys can keep trying to find the ship." Troy told him. "In the meantime, I plan to..."

"To give Lafitte what he wants?" Eric asked. Troy shook his head.

"To give us what we both want." He replied coldly.

Back on The Fancy, Emma and Lafitte had finished with dinner, after which he assured her that her friends would be released from the torture device while they were served dinner.

Lafitte took Emma through the corridors of the ship, presumably taking her back to her cell. The Yellow and Pink Corsair Rangers walked behind them, ensuring Emma didn't try to run...not that she had anywhere to run to anyway.

As they got to the door, Lafitte pressed a few keys, at which it opened. Emma started to make her way inside, before stopping in her tracks. It was an elegantly designed room that reminded her of the time she had seen the inside of Buckingham Palace. Antique wooden furniture topped with jewelled statues and ornaments lined the room, while in the centre, underneath a large, oil painting of Lafitte, was a four-poster bed, with silken sheets, and large, fluffy pillows. Emma turned to him.

"This doesn't look much like my cell." She commented. He just smiled.

"Like I said, things don't have to be this way." He told her, producing a large, diamond ring. "When I have free-run over the universe, and my army at my command, your friends can be my crew...while you can be at my side."

"You...you're not serious right?" She asked him. He just nodded.

"I've watched you for a long time, and I've always been impressed by you." He told her. "I can see why your Captain was always so fond of you."

"Sorry, but I'm not interested!" She snapped, shoving him roughly. "I'm one treasure you can't have!"

"Well, that's where you're wrong!" He responded, grabbing her shackles tightly, holding the chains in such a way that Emma's hands were held fast together, right by her neck. She could see his eyes starting to glow. He held up the diamond ring again. "Either this can be your wedding ring...or these can!" He rattled her chains to emphasise the point.

"You seem to be under the false impression you have a choice in this!" Lafitte growled as he glared into her eyes. "You see...whatever I want...I get in the end...one way or another!"

Just then, there was a loud ringing. He snapped back from his thoughts and opened his coat, where Emma could see the Ranger's morphers. He pulled out the one that was ringing, the one that Emma recognised as hers, and answered it.

"Tr..." Her words were cut off as Lafitte adjusted his grip, wrapping his arm around Emma, pinning her arms to her sides, and clamped his hand roughly over her mouth to silence her. He held the morpher to his ear with the other hand.

"Pink Ranger's morpher." He answered with a sly grin. "How may I direct your call?"

"You know what I want Lafitte." Troy told him. "I know what you want. I'm sending you the co-ordinates of a local quarry. Meet me there in ten minutes."

"I don't think you're in any position to make..." He just glared at the morpher. "He dares to hang up on me?"

He saw the smug look on Emma's face, and his mood soured.

"I'm sorry, I have business to attend to." He told her, handing her the wedding ring. "In the mean time...why don't you think about what kind of wife you intend to be...starting with which ring you prefer."

As he was about to leave, Emma launched herself onto his back, and started pounding on Lafitte. He eventually got a hold of her, and threw her onto the bed, slapping her hard across the face, stunning her.

"Well, that was pointless." He told her. "Now, I really must go. I'll be back soon though, and I have a feeling I'll be in a very good mood."

With that, he left, locking the door behind him. Emma just pulled herself up, before smiling and opening her jacket, looking at the morphers she had taken from him.

"Sorry Lafitte." She stated. "But I don't see myself as a stay-at-home wife."

A little while later, Lafitte arrived at a rock quarry, finding Troy standing waiting for him. He just looked around, craning his neck to see.

"Do you have something for me?" He asked. Troy shook his head.

"The chest isn't here." He replied. Lafitte just furrowed his brows.

"You...you didn't bring the chest?" He roared. Troy just pulled out his morpher.

"I know you'd never give back my friends whether I brought the keys or not!" Troy told him. "I know you'll never give up, but neither will I!"

"Then I suppose I'll just have to find out how to find the ship from one of your friends." Lafitte told him.

"Enough talk." Troy answered, turning the Ranger Key in his morpher, transforming into Corsair Mode. "Let's finish this the way we BOTH want to see it end!"

"It's your funeral." Lafitte replied as he turned into his true form. With a huge cry, they both rushed towards each other, drawing their weapons as they did.


	16. Last Flight of the Privateer

Troy threw himself at Lafitte with everything he had. Every second of training, all those times he'd told other kids he didn't want to go and read comics, every moment he'd refused to watch all those TV shows everyone insisted he just HAD to watch had led to this moment. This was his Waterloo, his Culloden, his Bunker Hill, this was the moment that he had been waiting for all his life.

He ducked as Lafitte fired off some shots, the blasts passing so close to him he could feel his hair singing even within the suit. He had no idea where his friends were, or what Lafitte had planned for him should he fail, all he knew was that no matter what happened, he couldn't afford to fail! This time, no matter what happened to him, he could not lose!

He dived and rolled behind a boulder as he parried one of Lafitte's sword strikes and skidded far enough away for his pistol to become a factor. Troy had now felt that pistol a couple of times, and knew it was something he couldn't afford to take lightly. Lafitte opened fire, the ground erupting in numerous explosions as he tried and failed to find his mark, while Troy took cover.

"You're only delaying the inevitable." Lafitte told him, making his way forward with his distinctive swagger as he tried to focus. He did all he could to maintain the facade that he was at full strength, but the fact was that his last gambit, blowing up Colo's necklace in the woods, had taken a lot out of him too. He needed to be close to Colo to make the ruse convincing. He needed to be within the blast range to make sure none of the Rangers suspected his trick, and while he was further away than them when the bomb went off, he wasn't far enough. His vision blurred a little as he stepped past a flame. "Come on Corsair Red, are you really going to make me look for you?"

"I'm going to make you work for ever last cut!" Troy snarled as he launched himself at Lafitte. The pirate had to turn quickly...he hadn't seen Troy move, but somehow he had ended up ambushing him from the side...from above! He had found a way to leave cover and make his way to high ground. Lafitte parried the blow, locking his blade with Troy's as they struggled for position. He tried to bring up his pistol, but Troy grabbed it with his remaining free hand, keeping it pointing in a safe direction. Rocks melted and blasted apart as Lafitte pulled the trigger, firing into nothing.

"You stubborn, arrogant fool!" Lafitte hissed as they grappled. "Do you really think you can beat me when entire worlds have fallen at my feet?"

"I believe anyone can win until they give up!" Troy replied as he dipped his head under Lafitte's right arm, and gripped him around the waist. He arched backwards, flipping Lafitte overhead and driving him into the ground, before rolling back, mounting him. He started to hammer into him with his sabre, only stopping and rolling away when Lafitte recovered his pistol. As he got to his feet, Troy noticed Lafitte was also holding his own blaster. Looking down to his empty holster, he realised that Lafitte had somehow taken his blaster in the confusion.

"You are so careless with your possessions." Lafitte taunted him. "Your team, your woman...pretty soon your keys will be mine too!"

Troy struggled to maintain composure as Lafitte said this. He knew the Pirate had his friends, he knew they were in his grasp...he just didn't know what exactly he was doing to them in that time. He had tried to banish it from his mind, to keep himself clear for the battle ahead. It had crossed his mind what Lafitte was talking about, what he might have done to his friends, and especially to Emma, the first and only girl he had allowed into his heard.

"You'll have to pry them from my cold, dead hands Lafitte!" Troy assured him. Lafitte just laughed.

"I think that can be arranged." He replied, levelling both pistols in Troy's direction.

Troy broke into a run, heading straight for Lafitte. He knew it wasn't the smartest move, but by now, he was riding on pure adrenaline. As he went, a glint of steel caught his eye...Lafitte's sword! Kicking it up, he snatched it in a back-handed grip as Lafitte opened fire, sending numerous blasts his way. Troy started deflecting blasts as he went, bringing a blade across Lafitte's abdomen, before spinning around and slicing across his back. Lafitte stumbled away, blasting Troy a few times in the gut, sending him into the wall of the quarry.

"You really think you're so unique, don't you?" Lafitte taunted him as he rounded on him. Green fluid was dripping from some wounds across his body, and leaking from his mouth and down his chin. He was bleeding heavily, but he seemed as strong as ever. "Do you really think I've never faced anyone like you? I've faced DOZENS like you! Dozens of would-be heroes..."

"Has anyone ever told you that you talk too much?" Troy interrupted him, staggering forwards. He was fighting for every breath, and he didn't know how long he could stay on his feet. He showed as much strength as he could as he faced him, trying not to let on how close he was to the end. "Let's finish this!"

Lafitte's mouth curled a little at the corner.

"With pleasure." He responded. Troy could only watch as Lafitte broke into a run...before turning into a blur. As he rushed past, Troy could feel a blow like a sledgehammer across his chest...then his back as it returned...then his chest...

He struggled to stay on his feet, he fought for every breath...he tried to recall everything his sensei had all taught him about focus and concentration, but every time he tried to do so, he was sent stumbling again, feeling like another bone had shattered beneath Lafitte's assault. He fell to his knees, at which Lafitte finally stopped before him, looking down on him.

"I have to admit, you are impressive." Lafitte told him. "Perhaps under different circumstances you could have been on my crew."

Troy didn't say anything, instead trying to build whatever strength he had for one last push. Lafitte, he could see, was also weakening, but he knew he was close to the end. His suit only remained because he exerted all his mental strength to keep it in place. He was only still conscious...possibly even alive...because he willed it with all of his being. He looked up to Lafitte as the pirate stood over him.

"I plan on being the Commodore of a whole fleet." He told him. "How would you like to be a captain in that fleet?"

Troy just shook his head, at which Lafitte sighed and shook his head.

"Pity." He responded. "I could always..."

"I am sick of your bullshit!" Troy roared as he launched himself upwards, the top of his head connecting with Lafitte's chin. He could feel a couple of his teeth caving in, and the pirate stumbling back. He stomped on his foot before he could get too far away. "And I am SICK of your FLASHY MOVES!"

Troy, in a move born out of desperation more than anything else, turned Lafitte's sword, and drove it downwards straight through his own foot, and Lafitte's pinning them both to the ground. Lafitte howled in agony, while Troy rode pure adrenaline and endorphins to keep from passing out. As Lafitte dropped a pistol, Troy caught it, pressing it into his chest, while Lafitte recovered enough to do the same. They both looked each other dead in the eye as they pulled the trigger, unleashing a blast that splintered every rock for a mile around, and sending both of them flying.

In his powered-down form, Lafitte could hear nothing, nothing but a distant ringing in his ears. He could feel his flesh was warm as his body did all it could to try and keep itself going. His bomb had weakened him enough that he knew he wasn't at full strength, but he was sure that he still had more than enough to take on the one remaining Ranger. He pulled his head up, his neck straining like he was trying to lift a car with it, and could see Troy lying still, unmoving, no sign of him even breathing. He was lying in a pool of his own pathetic, red, human blood, most of it formed around his right foot, which he had foolishly impaled in an effort to take Lafitte down.

Lafitte grabbed a cliff-face, and started to haul himself up. Every joint, every bone ached from the battle. If he was honest, Troy had made him doubt if he could win more than once, and had taken him closer to defeat than anyone he could ever remember. He took a step, almost ending up on his face as he stumbled, regaining his balance. Looking down, he could see his foot, his left foot, was missing all of his toes, and a good portion of the front of it, and was leaking green blood at a troubling rate. When the blast had gone off, it had forced both of them away from where their feet were anchored, essentially ripping them apart. Lafitte just started to hobble towards Troy.

"You...you did well Red Ranger." He complimented him. "No one has ever taken me so close to the end. You should feel proud!"

He didn't get an answer as he approached. He just bent down, picking up his own pistol as he continued to hobble forwards.

"Oh come on, no witty comeback? No snappy retort?" He asked. "If you humans didn't die so easily, I'd almost be feeling a sense of satisfaction now!"

Troy still didn't answer. As he finally got to him, he heard something from up ahead, and saw the other Corsair Rangers running towards him. He hadn't ordered his puppets to come to him; he hadn't told them they could leave the ship, so he knew that it had to be the Rangers. Somehow, they had overpowered their captors and retrieved their powers. He looked to them, his breath rasping as he clutched his ribs. He was strong...but he knew he couldn't take all of them.

"Give it up Lafitte!" Jake snarled as he and the others levelled Noah's new cannon weapon at him. "We're not kidding around! Leave, or we'll send you to hell!"

"Go ahead!" Lafitte told him, opening his arms wide. "Do it!"

"We're not kidding Lafitte!" Noah answered, stalling for time. His cannon was untested...even he didn't know if it would work. They just hoped that seeing it would intimidate Lafitte. The pirate just gestured to them to fire. Jake pulled the trigger...only for nothing to happen. The machine just sparked, and fell dead in their arms. He just smiled.

"My day may have come." Lafitte told them. "But I am not done..."

As he turned Troy over, he could see his Corsair blaster in his hand, with the Red Corsair key in the lock. Troy looked him straight in the eyes as his grip tightened on the handle. Lafitte, seeing that his end was at hand...simply laughed...as Troy pulled the trigger, his head exploded, and his body fell backwards slowly, landing on the ground. The other Rangers ran to Troy's side. They had come as quickly as they could, but it seemed even then they were too late.

"Troy!" Emma screamed as she tried to rouse him. "TROY!"

"He needs help now!" Gia stated. "We need to get him back to the ship!"

"We need to get him to a hospital!" Noah corrected her.

"Dana's on the ship!" Orion reminded them. "We should..."

"Jake, Noah, take Troy back to the ship." Gia told them. They both looked to her blankly. "NOW!"

"They both stood for a moment, before doing as she said. She took Emma in her arms, and held her tightly.

"Come on." Gia said quietly. "You should go with him."

"Gia..."

"Orion." She said quietly, before pulling him aside. She wanted to make sure she was out of earshot. "I'm taking Emma back. I want you..."

"What?" He asked. Gia just sighed.

"I want you to find what's left of his foot." She whispered, before heading back to Emma, and escorting her from the scene. Orion started looking around for the errant body part, not entirely certain what they planned to do with it even if he could find it.


	17. Troy's Price

The Rangers returned to the Red Galleon, carrying Troy with them. His right foot was heavily bound in a makeshift dressing they had made from Emma's coat. Orion was a little way behind them, carrying something bundled up inside his jacket.

"Troy!" Dana called out as she saw him. She quickly started clearing off a work bench. "Set him down over here."

"Lafitte?" Eric asked.

"He's done." Jake told them. "Troy finished him."

"I still don't understand what happened." Noah replied. "The cannon should have worked!"

"It's alright Noah." Gia assured him.

"But...if we had gotten there sooner, if that cannon had just..."

"Noah, it's not like this is the first time things haven't gone to plan." Gia reminded him as they set Troy down on the bench as Dana started to get some supplies together. "Right, we need to work quickly."

"Let's see what we're up against." Dana stated, beginning to unwrap Troy's foot. It seemed to be the area that was losing the most blood. As soon as she did, both Wes and Eric recoiled in horror.

"Whoa." Eric gasped.

"Um...shouldn't there be...um...more of it?" Wes asked, balking a little. Although he and Eric had seen their fair share of injuries between their time as Rangers, and with the Silver Guardians...this was a lot more than they were used to seeing. Dana just rolled her eyes.

"At least one of us has the stomach for this." She muttered. "Um...is that...?"

"I've got the rest of it here." Orion told her, placing the bundle down. She looked around the room.

"OK, I'll need room to work." She told them. "Do any of you have any kind of medical experience...and I don't just mean first aid."

"I...was kind of a healer back at the mines back home." Orion told her. "There was always someone getting crushed or breaking something. I was studying as an apprentice to the village apothecary."

"Have you ever handled an amputation?" Dana asked him. He just nodded.

"Once or twice." He admitted. She just nodded.

"Fine, go and get cleaned up." She told him. "As for the rest of you, the best thing you can do is give me some room to work."

"Come on." Gia told Emma as she tried to guide her away. Emma was gripping tightly to Troy's hand, and by the looks of things, she didn't want to go. "Emma..."

"Please." Dana told her. "I know you want to be here, but the best thing you can do for him is let us work. There's...a lot of damage here. I'll do what I can here. Once we get to Briarwood, we'll see about getting Nick and the others to do something to speed along the recovery, but until then...we're against the clock here."

"Come on." Gia reiterated as Emma reluctantly let go. "Let's go and set a course for Briarwood. We've got a way to go."

With that, the Rangers all broke off and left the room. Orion came back, just as Dana finished ensuring Troy was anaesthetised, ready for the operation.

"OK, so...where do we begin?" Orion asked. Dana just sighed.

"Just...follow my lead and do what I say." She answered as she picked up the remainder of Troy's foot. "This isn't going to be easy."

Elsewhere on the ship, Jake and Noah went back to their room to wait on word from Dana. It was by far the most significant injury any of them had suffered in battle. Most of them had suffered injuries in battle; some of them had even been life-threatening. Of course, none of them had ever had anything REMOVED before. In Troy's case in particular, it was quite horrendous. He had pinned his own foot to the ground, before firing off the pistols. The resulting explosion had thrown him back, but with it pinned to the ground, the rest of his foot had gone nowhere. It wasn't exactly a clean cut, it was more like it was ripped off.

Jake still couldn't shake the image from his mind. True to form, Troy had powered through, giving the battle everything, and had managed to take Lafitte out before succumbing to his injuries. However, by the time it was done, he couldn't help thinking the cost had been too high. It was a pyrrhic victory if in the process of destroying Lafitte; they ended up losing a Ranger.

He was shaken from his thoughts as he heard some crashing, and looked around, seeing Noah by his work bench, pulling out some tools, and staring at his cannon. He started to get to work on it, forcing off the outer casing.

"Noah..."

"It should have worked!" Noah snapped. "I need to figure this out..."

"Noah, give it a rest." Jake told him.

"I don't get it, it just...did nothing!" Noah said as he started to work on it. "I've been working on this thing for weeks! I can't understand why it didn't work!"

"Noah, you said it yourself, it hadn't been tested!" Jake reminded him. "No one blames you..."

"Well I DO!" Noah roared as he picked up a hammer, hitting the cannon as hard as he could. "Stupid, useless piece of SHIT!"

"Noah..."

"Jordan gave us everything!" Noah ranted. "He made these powers, all our weapons, our morphers, the Zords...EVERYTHING! I had one thing to do, ONE THING, and I failed!"

"Noah, you aren't the only one that feels badly about this." Jake told him. "We all wish Troy hadn't been hurt!"

"You don't get it Jake, this is what I'm meant to be able to do, this is who I was! I was the tech guy!" Noah told him. "I was always the one that was meant to come up with a new weapon or figure things out, and then when everyone needed me...I let you all down!"

"What difference do you really think it would have made?" Jake asked him.

"If that cannon had worked..."

"He'd already been hurt!" Jake reminded him. "We arrived at the END of the battle!"

"Jake..."

"No, seriously, do you really want to play the blame game?" Jake asked him. "FIVE of us took on Lafitte after he killed Colo. After that blast...five of us were still in the fight. Do you really think any of us are more to blame than anyone else? We were all there, and we still got taken down, so are you trying to say we're all to blame?"

"Jake, that's not what I said." Noah told him. "We were all shaken up by that blast. I could barely see straight..."

"OK, so what about on the ship?" Jake asked him. "Emma was free, she managed to get the morphers, she was the one that got us out of our cells. Maybe if she'd been faster..."

"I don't blame Emma!" Noah snapped. "She was by herself against five fully powered Ranger puppets! If she'd been caught, she'd have been done for! She got us out as fast as she could!"

"Oh...how about Eric and Wes and Dana?" Jake asked. "I mean, it took them long enough to figure out how to fly the ship right? If they had taken on The Fancy earlier..."

"There's no way they could have!" Noah told him.

"So there was no way we could have got to Troy any faster?" Jake asked him.

"No!" Noah replied. He paused as he realised what Jake had made him say.

"There was no way we could have gotten there before he got hurt." Jake told him. "So it wouldn't have mattered if the cannon worked."

Noah just reluctantly nodded. He just sat by the work bench as he looked to the cannon.

"I know all of that's true. I know if we could have done anything better we would have." Noah sighed. "It's just..."

"It's just that you always liked to focus on the things you could do, to make sense of things when things didn't make sense." Jake told him. "You liked to control things you could control."

Jake picked up a screwdriver and took a seat next to Noah.

"Well, it's a long way to Briarwood." He said as he looked to the cannon. "Let's see if we can get this to..."

"I wouldn't do that." Noah said as Jake went to part of the mechanism. "Unless of course you really want to redecorate the room with a fine red mist."

"Maybe you should take the lead." Jake responded.

"I think that would be for the best." Noah replied as he took the screwdriver from him and started to get to work. "I'll let you know how you can help."

Up on the main deck, Gia had left Emma to her thoughts at the prow of the ship. Although she wanted to be there for Emma, she knew that she would need a certain amount of time to herself. Until she heard word on Troy's condition, she really wasn't going to be much in the way of company. Gia found Eric by one of the swivel guns and smiled.

"You did a pretty good job with those." Gia told him.

"I always was a pretty good shot." He told her.

"Yeah...I kind of noticed in the battle." Gia answered. "I'm not too flattered that you blew my Ranger puppet's head off though."

"It was nothing personal." Eric said in a chuckle as he looked to her. "How's Emma?"

"She needs some time alone." Gia answered. "Um...I have to ask...Wayne..."

"We picked him up." Eric told her. "He's in custody at Guardian HQ. We're really not sure what to do about him though."

"I kind of feel badly for the guy." Gia admitted. "It's not like we can blame him for how he feels about Rangers. What happened to Spider..."

"His son's still getting the best of care." Eric told her. "Wes forwarded that device Wayne got from Damaras to the science division of his firm. We wanted to see if Damaras was serious when he said it could help Spider before we did anything with it."

"I'm not holding my breath." Gia admitted. She just looked to him as she considered something. "So, we've got some time to kill right?"

"Yeah." He replied. "Why?"

"Fancy a little friendly competition?" Gia asked him, gesturing to the swivel guns. "I mean, you did seem pretty good with this thing."

"I'm always up for showing the rookies how it's done." Eric said with a smile. Gia just pressed a button, at which a clay pigeon machine came up out of the deck.

"So, do you want to go first?" Gia asked. "You know...age before beauty?"

"Oh, it is on!" Eric replied as he took up position.

On the prow of the ship, Emma was staring out into the clouds when Wes arrived, leaning on the rail beside her.

"Rough day huh?" He asked her. He regretted saying it almost as soon as he said it. She'd been kidnapped, seen her team tortured, and was currently waiting on news about her boyfriend, who was pretty much on death's door. Emma just nodded.

"You could say that." She answered. "I just really wanted to thank you all. I don't think we could have made it without all of you helping."

"Hey, we were happy to help." Wes told her. He could see the way Emma was struggling to hold herself together and tried to think of a way to help. He could only think of one.

"Um...so I was talking to Tensou while we were figuring out how to pilot the ship." He told her. He pulled out the Time Force Ranger Keys. "He said that you were looking for these."

"The Keys?" She asked him, looking up to him. He just sighed.

"I could try and say something about how there never seemed to be a good time to give them to you." He told her. "I suppose in some ways there weren't many good times...it's not like we spent a lot of time together before all the chaos started, but..."

"But?" Emma asked him.

"I guess a part of me just wanted to hold onto them a little longer." Wes told her. "I've seen what this thing with Troy is doing to you. It's brought back a lot of memories."

"You mean Jen?" Emma asked. He just nodded as he looked to the keys.

"You mentioned Alex before, so I guess you met the rest of my team." He answered. "So, I guess you know that Jen and I..."

"She mentioned that you had something special." Emma answered. Wes nodded in response.

"I've never met anyone like her." He answered. "When the powers stopped working, when the keys appeared, I guess...I guess it was like I had a part of her back."

He looked to her and sighed.

"I'm guessing she's moved on." He asked. Emma sucked her teeth as he asked this.

"She married Alex." She admitted. Wes looked a little hurt as she heard this, but she could just tell that a part of him kind of expected this. "I'm sorry..."

"No, it's good to know that she's happy." Wes answered. "What we had was special, but I guess it was never meant to be."

"I'm really sorry about that." Emma answered.

"Here." Wes said as he handed over the keys. "I know you'll make good use of them. I guess it was just nice to know that somewhere, there was still a part of what we once had."

As he was about to leave, Emma turned to him.

"Wes." She called out. He paused for a moment, turning to look at her. Emma started rummaging around in her pockets, before eventually finding what she was looking for. She pulled out a small device, and set it down on the rail, activating it. Wes watched as a hologram appeared of a young girl, around 11 years old appeared.

"Um...OK, who is that?" Wes asked. Emma just smiled.

"It's Jen's daughter." Emma informed him. She had always wondered why Jen had left the hologram with her, but at that moment, all of the pieces just fell into place. She now understood. "She's 11 years old."

"Jen did want a family." Wes answered. Emma looked to him.

"Jen told me, she was born in December 3002." Emma told him. Wes just looked at her curiously. "She...um...she returned to her time after your last mission together in April."

Wes looked to her as she said this, his mouth hanging open.

"You mean...?" Emma just nodded.

"Her name's Eleanor." Emma told him. Wes picked up the device, looking at the image of the daughter he never knew he had.

"Eleanor...that was my mom's name!" He exclaimed. Emma put her arm around him as she saw him looking at the hologram.

"I guess there is something left of what you once had after all." Emma told him. Wes just looked to her and held her tightly.

Meanwhile, down in the main room, Dana was working on stabilising Troy, treating his wounds to the best of her abilities. She knew there were limitations to what she could do. It wasn't as though they had the same facilities a hospital did; she just hoped to keep him going long enough to get him to Briarwood.

Suddenly, he started to convulse, and jerk around violently. Orion helped her hold him down.

"Damn, his vitals are going nuts!" Dana called out. "Orion, help me, we need to stabilize him!"

Orion helped Dana to strap him down, while she looked for some medication to help even out his symptoms. Orion stopped her as he noticed something.

"Wait, look!" He told her, pointing down at his foot. Dana inspected the area, seeing something alarming happening. Horrendous, red veins started to show up around his ankle, and extended up his lower leg. "Bloodfire!"

"What?" Dana asked.

"Bloodfire, it's a plant poison in my sector." Orion told her.

"How would Troy get exposed to an Andresian poison?" Dana asked him.

"He...he impaled himself with Lafitte's sword, not his!" Orion recalled. "Lafitte must have coated his own sword with it!"

"Well, what do we do?" Dana asked him. "Do you know of an antidote?"

"There's no antidote!" Orion told her. "It was a crime to even harvest it in my sector! It causes a burning, agonising death! There's no antidote!"

"So, you're telling us there's nothing we can do?" Dana asked him.

"Not if it reaches his heart." Orion said with a gulp. "There's...um...there's one way to stop it."

Dana looked to Troy, and then to Orion.

"You're not seriously saying..."

"There's no choice." He told her. "Either we lose the leg, or we lose Troy."

Dana just sighed and started to prepare her equipment.

"I'm really sorry about this Troy." She said quietly. She looked to Orion. "Hand me that saw."


	18. Trouble Afoot

The Rangers, Dana, Eric and Wes were all gathered in a room, sitting around a table as Dana relayed her account of Troy's condition. He was still critical, and had yet to regain consciousness, but he was stable, and appeared to be in no further mortal danger, unless there were any unforeseen complications. However, none of that was the first thing on anyone's mind. That wasn't the reason the room was in silence.

"You...you did what?" Emma finally managed to ask.

"We didn't have a choice." Orion assured her as he looked around the room.

"You cut off his leg?" Gia asked in disbelief.

"Only below the knee." Orion assured her.

"Oh, because that's so much better!" Jake said as he threw his hands up. "You cut off his leg!"

"We couldn't do anything else, he was poisoned." Orion reiterated as he tried to explain. "Bloodfire's so deadly, even harvesting it is illegal on Andresia. There's no cure, once it's in the system, the only way to save the victim is to stop it reaching the heart. The only way we could do that..."

"Was to cut off his leg before it spread." Emma sighed. The others all backed down as they considered what they had heard. Gia could see some tears starting to form in Emma's eyes and was quickly over to hug her, holding her tightly.

"So Lafitte poisoned his sword?" Noah asked. Orion just nodded.

"It looks like he'd already made up his mind how his meeting with Troy was going to end." Orion responded sadly. "All it would have taken is one scratch. He had to have known that. I guess he was never planning on bringing Troy onto the crew."

"I suppose that fits." Noah grumbled. He looked to the others. "In the Golden Age of Piracy, it was common for pirate ships to take the crews of captured ships captive. They'd then offer them a pen and a sword, giving them the choice to sign up to the crew or...you know. The one thing that was a given was that the Captain of the old ship had to go. It was too much of a risk that they'd lead their old crew in a mutiny."

"Noah...I mean this in the nicest possible way, but please shut up." Gia stated as she held Emma closely. Jake patted Noah on the shoulder.

"Maybe now's not the time for your random facts." He told him. "So...what do we do now?"

"Well, we should be in Briarwood in a couple of hours." Wes announced. "I guess we can figure out where we all go from there."

"The sedatives should be wearing off soon." Dana told them. "Troy should be awake before we get to Briarwood."

"So, that leaves us with the next problem." Jake said sadly. "Who's going to tell him?"

"I've handled stuff like this before." Dana began. "I..."

"No." Emma interrupted her, wiping her eyes as she disentangled herself from Gia's arms. "I...I'm the closest to him. It would probably be best coming from me."

With that, she made her way from the room, heading for Troy's room where he had been moved to rest up after his treatment.

"I'll...just go and check on the auto pilot." Wes said as he got up from the table.

"I think I'll join you." Eric added as he went with him. Dana got up from the table and looked to the others regretfully. Although she was confident she had done the right thing, the only thing she could to save Troy, she still couldn't help feeling badly about what had happened.

"I'll just...um...I'll be..." She left the room, unable to say anything more to the others. As she left the Corsairs alone, Orion started fidgeting.

"Guys...I'm sorry, if there had been another way..."

"It's...it's alright." Gia whispered. "We know you would have found another way if there'd been one."

"So, what's next?" Jake asked. None of them answered. It was a very good question, one none of them were sure they had an answer to.

Up on The Armada Command Ship, Prince Vekar was in his room, having his wounds attended to by droids after his harsh training under Argus. In his latest insane scheme, Argus had locked him into a training room, and sent wave after wave of robots at him, with their safety protocols disabled, meaning that they attacked him as readily as they would any enemy. He had put his life in jeopardy, forcing him to fight for his very survival.

It had been many years since Prince Vekar had trained in the ways of battle back home. He had always trained with servants and tutors in strictly controlled circumstances...a polite way of saying that they were never permitted to hit him back! When he lashed out in his fits of petulant rage at his people, no one dared fight back. He'd had many of his play mates crippled or mutilated for displeasing him, anyone daring to strike him knew they could expect a drawn-out and painful execution.

When he began his campaign of terror on the cosmos, he had always had his armies lay waste to those that stood before him. Even when he took to the field himself, he always had a full guard, and Argus never left his side. All in, he had never actually had to fight for himself.

As one of the droids massaged his aching muscles, he couldn't help looking at himself in the mirror. His physique had already changed a significant way from the large, portly blob that he had become in his self-imposed exile of self-pity, comfort-eating and lying in bed all day for weeks on end. He had already shed a lot of the excess fat, and thanks to the training, he was becoming more toned.

As he felt his bruising though, he couldn't help thinking about injuries. He remembered suffering his first wound in battle, the time the Red Ranger had winged him with his hand blaster. It was an incredible shock to his system, and he could remember vividly the trauma of that incident. He could remember the smell of burnt flesh and hair, the sharp, needling pain from the wound...most of all, he could remember screaming in agony, and panicking, worrying about being hurt further, or worse...dying.

His most significant injury came at the hands of the Blue Ranger, when he forced the Prince into retreat by breaking his nose. He had seen visions of himself being disfigured, ugly...he had run away scared from a mere child.

Now, as he looked to his wounds...he could hardly believe his reaction. When he had no option, nowhere to run, no one to hide behind, his instincts took over. Instead of crying and whining, his instincts brought him to focus, and riding on his endorphins and adrenaline, he had fought on despite wounds he feared would cripple him.

He looked to one of the blaster scorches on his body, and found himself smiling. It was far worse than the one Troy had inflicted on him all those months ago, and yet, he was still sitting up, and already thinking about his training the following day. He looked up as Lavira came into the room, carrying a large glass of...whatever it was Argus made him as his version of a diet.

"Argus said it's time for your...meal." She greeted him, setting it down and stepping away from it, like she didn't want to be in the same room as it. Given how it looked, smelled, and as Vekar could attest, tasted...he really couldn't blame her. "I just had to report..."

Her words tailed off as she saw Vekar, stripped to the waist as his attendants worked on him, and found herself speechless. Her thoughts drifted as she saw him, and after seeing the way he was looking at her, she suddenly realised how long it had been since she said anything. She shook her head.

"Argus did that to you?" She asked as she shook herself back into the present. Vekar just shrugged.

"It isn't anything serious." He assured her. Lavira could hardly believe what she was hearing as he said this. The same man that had cried when he had a meal spilled on him like he was suffering full-thickness burns was now casually shrugging off burns, cuts and bruises? He picked up the glass and forced down his first gulp. "You were saying?"

"Um...I just wanted to report the latest developments on Earth." She told him. "Lafitte is no more."

"Lafitte is gone?" Vekar asked her.

"The Red Ranger defeated him in battle." She informed him. "He is no more."

"I know a great many bounty hunters that will be very disappointed that reward is no longer up for grabs." Prince Vekar replied with a smile as he drank more of Argus vile health shake. "Perhaps I should thank the Red Ranger before I destroy them."

"The Red Ranger was gravely injured in the battle." She continued. "The Rangers took him with them when they disappeared, so we don't know how badly, but...I would not expect to see him for some time."

Prince Vekar stood up, examining himself in the mirror once more, and smiling. This was good news indeed. At best, this gave his forces an advantage they could exploit should they find the Rangers. At worst...it bought him time until he was finally ready to take his place at the helm once more.

"Then we must make the most of this time." Prince Vekar told her. "Do you have anything that will assist my training?"

"I...um..." Lavira stammered. "I believe I have something that can maximise the benefit...allow you to make best use of the time you are asleep by..."

"Then bring it here." He told her.

"Your Highness, it is untested." She told him. "I have not found a way to make the process painless..."

"What's a little pain in the grand scheme of things?" He asked in response. "Bring it here."

"As you command." She replied.

Back on the Red Galleon, Troy started to stir, the fog beginning to lift as feeling started to return to him. He almost wished it hadn't, thanks to Lafitte, every inch of him ached. Lafitte was by far the strongest opponent he had faced on his own. His vision took a while to come back into focus, but as it did, he could see that he was in his room, in his bed. There was someone sitting on the edge of his bed. He smiled as his vision finally came into full focus, and he saw Emma sitting, looking at him.

"There's a sight worth waking up to." He said with a little smile. Emma forced a smile in return. "Lafitte?"

"Lafitte's gone." Emma assured him. "You got him."

"And everyone got out?" He asked. She just nodded.

"We're on our way to Briarwood." She told him. "We're going to figure out where we're going from there."

She took a deep breath as she prepared for the next part.

"How...how are you feeling?" She asked him.

"I kind of feel like I've been through a blender." He admitted. "Lafitte definitely wasn't pulling any punches."

"Are you in any pain?" She asked him.

"Only when I breathe." He said with a small chuckle. "And I have this really weird feeling in my foot; it's so damn itchy..."

"Troy." She interrupted him as he said this, taking his hand gently. She looked to him in a way that let him know she was trying to be serious. "Something happened, something..."

"Emma, what is it?" Troy asked her. "Emma, whatever it is, whatever happened to Jake or Noah or..."

"Troy, it isn't..." She said, struggling to bring herself to tell him. "Lafitte poisoned his sword. When you impaled your foot, it got into your bloodstream."

"I'm...I'm poisoned?" He asked her. "Is it...am I going to...?"

"Dana managed to stop it, you're not poisoned." She explained. "But...um...there was...there was a price."

"What happened Emma?" He asked her. "Please, just tell me!"

"The poison was in your foot." Emma told him. "The only way to stop it was..."

As she struggled to say it, and Troy could see her beginning to tear up, his face fell. He looked to her, shaking his head.

"Emma?" He asked. He could see she still wasn't able to answer. Sitting up, he pulled back the sheet, and looked down. His heart raced, and he was left speechless by what he saw. His right leg was missing. It had been amputated only a couple of inches below his knee. Emma looked to him and held his hand tightly.

"Troy, I'm sorry!" She pleaded with him. "Dana...she didn't have a choice! It was the only way!"

Troy still couldn't say anything. All he could do was sit and stare at where his foot should have been. It didn't seem real, it had to be a dream, it just had to be! Emma grabbed him tightly, hugging him, holding him closely as her tears ran down her face. She couldn't let him see her tears; right now the man she loved needed her to be strong for him.

"I'm sorry." She repeated as she held him, wiping away her tears.

Elsewhere on the ship, the others were sitting, trying to pass the time. Wes had agreed to pilot the ship the rest of the way, figuring that none of the Corsairs really felt much like it at this exact moment.

Noah was continuing to work on his cannon, still trying to figure out why it hadn't worked. It was his way of coping with things he couldn't do anything about. He understood science and engineering; it was kind of like a comfort zone for him. He worked way silently, trying to get the weapon up and running, ready for when it would be needed in the future. It had failed them once, he was determined it never would again.

Jake finally broke the silence as he got up, the scraping of his chair against the floor as loud as thunder in the silence of the room. The others all just stared at him.

"Is anyone else hungry?" He asked. They all just looked among each other as they thought about it. It had been some time since any of them had eaten. None of them felt like cooking, but they were hungry. "I'll just see what there is."

He went to the freezer, and started to look through, rummaging around. He saw a large tub of ice-cream that had been pushed to the back, leftover from their visit to Harwood. Ernie had given them a couple of huge tubs of ice-cream, much of which they had eaten, but they had always kept some back in case someone needed cheering up, or there was a special occasion. He figured that in this situation constituted one where they needed cheering up, and reached in for it, beginning to move things around to get to it.

As he finally grabbed it, moving the last thing out of the way to get to it, he started to pull it out, at which a plastic bag opened, and he saw something. He suddenly let out a massive, squealing scream and jumped backwards, tripping over a chair and landing on the floor with a loud thud, the back of his head hitting the floor. He started scooting backwards as the others came to see what the commotion was.

"Jake, what is it?" Gia asked as she got to him. Noah picked up the ice-cream tub as Jake just stared. "Jake?" The Green Ranger just pointed, at which they all looked, seeing what had scared him. Orion sighed.

"Sorry, I should have remembered." He stated. They all looked at him.

"Wait...YOU put that in there?" Noah asked. "That's Troy's foot!"

"Well...I couldn't think what else to do with it!" He admitted. "I mean, Dana said we have to dispose of it properly. It's not like we could just throw it overboard or anything."

"So you put it in the freezer?" Gia yelled.

"It would have rotted otherwise!" He reminded them.

"Dude...our food is in there!" Jake yelled.

"I wrapped it up, it's perfectly safe!" He protested. Just then, Noah looked down to the tub of ice-cream.

"You know...I'm not that hungry after all." He replied, putting it back and closing the freezer. None of the others could disagree.


	19. A Rebellious Decision

Emma left Troy's room, her arms wrapped around herself for comfort as the others looked to her. None of them were surprised that her make-up had run, indicating that there had been some tears. It wasn't as though it was every day that someone Emma's age had to inform their boyfriend that he'd had a limb amputated. Gia came across, holding her wordlessly as Orion went to pour her some tea.

"How is he?" Gia asked.

"He's resting for now." Emma told them. "He was upset, confused...then he just got really tired all of a sudden. He fell asleep, so I stayed with him for a while, then I figured it was best I don't disturb him."

"It's probably to be expected." Dana said as she arrived in the room. She had come down from the bridge, where Wes was overseeing taking the ship to Briarwood. She had come to tell them that they were due to arrive shortly, and had overheard the tail end of what Emma had said. She approached cautiously. "He's been through a lot, he's probably going to need a lot of rest."

Emma didn't say anything as Gia took her to a seat, but Dana couldn't help catching a quick glance that she gave her. It wasn't like she wasn't expecting that, although Emma was obviously happy that Troy was still alive, she had to have a lot on her mind. There were a lot of questions and doubts over his future now. She had to be upset and confused, but she was also likely to be angry. Lafitte was gone, he was not around for Emma to direct that anger at, so the next logical target had to be Dana, the one that had held the saw. It wasn't as though it was the first time Dana had been on the receiving end of that phenomenon. In her role as a doctor, it wasn't the first time she'd had to deal with families and friends she'd given bad news.

As Emma sat down, Orion placed a cup in her hands. Emma took the tea in her hands and took a sip, before leaning over the table, resting her arms on it. She was exhausted from the events of the last couple of days, the last few hours especially. Since their encounter with Lafitte, none of them had much time to rest up and recover really. The onslaught had been unending between torture, kidnap, battle and finally, having to cope with finding out about Troy's amputation. Dana couldn't really blame Emma for feeling the strain of it all. She was feeling some of the strain herself, despite only being on the ship a few days.

"How about you?" Orion asked. "How are you?"

"I...I don't really know." Emma said honestly. "I don't know what to feel, or think. I'm upset...and angry and..."

"Hey, it's alright, just try to calm down." Noah said soothingly as the others gathered around. Jake noticed the way Dana was hanging around, and a thought occurred to him. Like the others, he was all over the place, and he felt angry about the fact Troy's future was now uncertain, but looking at Dana, he could feel that she was upset too. It wasn't as though she wanted to take his leg. He looked to her and nodded.

"Thanks." He said as she started to shift a little uneasily. Dana just nodded in response, grateful for the gesture. It wasn't the first time she'd had to deal with the friends and family of a patient she'd given bad news to, and she was used to having to face some measures of resentment from them, but it never felt good. In time, they would probably realise that she only did it to save Troy's life, but for now, it was good to see that at least one of them didn't really hold it against her. "I'm just going to check on Wes and Eric. We should be landing soon."

With that, she left the room. Emma took some more of the tea, taking some comfort in the warm sensation running through her as she drank it. Gia just continued to hold her, while the others struggled to find something to say.

"Can we get you anything?" Jake asked her. Emma just looked to them. With everything else going on in her mind, she hadn't had a chance to really think about anything she needed. She had to think hard, like they had asked her a hugely complicated question, before she finally realised something.

"Um...I guess I'm kind of hungry." Emma answered. The others just looked among each other.

"Uh...I think the freezer's empty." Noah answered. "It's not like we've had much time to go shopping for groceries lately."

"Yeah...we should probably stock up when we get to Briarwood." Gia added, remembering what was in the freezer. None of the others thought that would be the best thing for Emma to see right now. "I'm sure Nick will be able to hook us up when we get there."

"I guess we should be getting ready to land then." Noah said as they got up and started heading to their chambers, leaving Emma with Gia. "I'm sure they'll be able to whip up something when we get there."

Meanwhile in his underwater base, Vrak was sitting, analysing the footage from all the recent battles. He watched and re-watched Lafitte's last battle over and over again, taking in every single detail, every blow, every strike. He rested his elbows on his throne, tenting his fingers as he paid particular attention to the final moments, seeing how the battle ended. He almost didn't notice as his communicator started bleeping. Eventually, he answered it.

"You know, some people answer their communicators when people call them." Damaras whispered. Vrak just smirked.

"I was wondering when you would get around to calling." Vrak told him. "I was just going over the most recent battles. There's been some very interesting developments..."

"Interesting?" Damaras asked him incredulously. "Lafitte's DEAD!"

"Oh, I'm in no doubt about that." Vrak answered dryly, replaying the moment Troy's blast hit him. He let out a little laugh, seeing the effects. "I doubt even Lafitte's figured out how to survive for long without a head."

"You think this is funny?" Damaras asked him. "You assured me he was up to the job!"

"Damaras..."

"I stuck my neck out for you!" Damaras snapped. "I've done exactly as you asked, kept Prince Vekar's forces chasing their tails, keeping them out the way, and your man not only failed, he also all but gift-wrapped almost all the remaining Ranger Keys for them!"

"Damaras, try not to get yourself in such a state." Vrak told him.

"If anyone finds out what we've been up to, I'll be executed!" Damaras snapped. He looked around to make sure no one had heard him. He was the commanding officer on the ship, so most respected the privacy of his chambers, but he already knew that Lavira suspected his recent tactical decisions were somewhat suspicious. He was also starting to get the impression she might not be the only one. "I did everything you asked of me Vrak, and all I got in response was failure, and the Rangers getting closer..."

"Do you REALLY think that Lafitte was the only egg I had in my basket?" Vrak interrupted him. "Just like chess, the only way to plan a revolution is to be a dozen or more moves ahead of the other players! I had always considered the possibility that the Rangers would defeat Lafitte. Anyone who doesn't prepare for a few lost battles is doomed to failure before they begin."

"So what do you plan for us to do now?" Damaras asked him. Vrak just smiled.

"Just...bide your time for now." Vrak told him. "I'll contact you when you're needed."

"Don't you hang up on me Vrak!" Damaras yelled. "Vrak...VRAK!"

He let out a scream of frustration as the communicator cut out, realising that Vrak was now the one holding all the cards. He had always felt that Vekar was weak, that he was the biggest liability to the empire. When he became aware that Vrak was still alive, it hadn't taken him long to agree to help manoeuvre him into position to depose his brother and take his place on the throne. Over time though, Vrak's schemes seemed to just get more complicated and tangled. Even his devious and tactical mind could no longer figure out where one scheme crossed into another. Now more than ever, he realised that he was just a piece in Vrak's game, the only difference was that now, he knew that he was so far along the path that he had no choice but to proceed. He knew that Vrak would sell him out without a second thought if he dared to move against him, and Vekar would show no mercy if he ever suspected Damaras was anything other than loyal. Now, he was tied to Vrak for the long haul, whether he was successful or not.

In Briarwood, the Mystic Force were meditating, concentrating their powers when they all suddenly snapped to attention. They could feel something passing through the barrier in reality they had created around Briarwood. Nick was the first to his feet.

"Xander, Chip, head to the outskirts and prepare to receive our guests." Nick told them. "Maddie, V...go and secure the streets."

"Where are you going?" Maddison asked him. Nick just smiled.

"I'm going to lay out the welcome mat." He answered, transforming into a burning phoenix and streaking out of the room, up into the sky at incredible speed. He swirled and spun in the air, spreading out his wings in and awe inspiring display, creating a flaming bird almost a hundred feet across.

On the deck of the Red Galleon, Wes and Eric recoiled at the spectacle, feeling the intense heat.

"Holy crap!" Eric exclaimed. "What the...?"

"That would be our welcome." Gia told him as she appeared on the deck with the other Rangers. The phoenix spun in the air, reducing in size, before coming down onto the deck, transforming back into Nick. Gia looked to him and smiled. "Seriously, you can't just say 'hi'?"

"I think this makes more of an impression." Nick answered, pulling out his cell phone and dialling Xander. "Hey, Xander, tell the others to stand down. It's our friends, they're back."

As he hung up, he looked at Dana.

"I'm guessing you must be Dana." He continued, shaking her hand. "The rest of your team's been waiting for you. They'll definitely be relieved to see you got here safely."

"I'm glad to finally be here." She answered. "I have to admit, there were times I wasn't sure I'd get here, but I just had to help that kid."

"I understand." Nick assured her, before looking to Wes and Eric. "Sorry, we haven't met..."

"Wes Collins, and this is Eric Meyers. We're with the Silver Guardians."

"The resistance in Silver Hills?" Nick asked. "You're doing some good work out there. You're perfectly welcome..."

"Thanks, but we should really be getting back." Eric told him. "We've kind of got a lot to deal with out there."

"Well, let me help with that." Nick answered, clicking his fingers. With that, Wes and Eric both disappeared in a massive fireball, causing all of the Corsair Rangers and Dana to jump back in terror.

"What the...?"

"Don't worry, I didn't do anything to harm them." Nick assured them. "I just gave them a little lift home." Nick told them. "They should both be back in Silver Hills, none the worse for wear."

"Well, maybe giving us a little warning the next time you're going to do something like that would be a good idea." Noah said somewhat grumpily. His understanding of what was and wasn't possible had expanded greatly since he had become a Ranger. He had always been keen on science, but at the same time loved the myths and legends of the world. He just used science to understand and try to explain how they could be possible. Bigfoot could be the last of a missing evolutionary step in primate development. Extra Terrestrials...well...aside from the fact he had now MET some, he had always considered it possible that with a universe so large, and so many other planets that it was almost a logical IMPOSSIBILITY that none of them could support life. There was, though, some things that still made him a little uncomfortable because they existed way outside his understanding of accepted science. Magic, real magic, was one such thing, since by its very nature it often took the principles of chemistry, biology, physics...all branches of science, and completely ignored or even broke them.

"Where's the fun in that?" Nick asked with a smile. He then looked to the others. "Um...where's Troy?"

The Corsairs just looked around each other, before Emma stepped forward to answer.

"Yeah...Troy's below deck." Emma told him. "He was hurt in the last battle, really badly."

"How badly?" Nick asked her as he started to look worried. He had met Troy a couple of times, but he already knew that he wasn't the kind of guy to lie down to anything if he could help it. If he wasn't standing before him, leading his team, the only explanation was that he was physically unable. Emma just sighed and gestured for him to follow her.

"It's probably best I just show you." She told him. Nick looked to Gia, who he knew was always kind of looked to as the team's second-in-command, the one they turned to whenever Troy was unavailable.

"Bring the ship into the dock, you know where it is." Nick told her. "The rest of my team will meet you there. We'll get you some food and some comfortable beds for the night."

"How did you know we were hungry?" Noah asked as he and Emma left. "Is that some kind of magical mind-reading thing?" He stopped for a second and turned back.

"Actually, I could hear Jake's stomach rumbling from here." Nick replied, before following Emma below deck.

Over in The Library, Jordan was taking a break from his studies. More accurately, he couldn't concentrate on his studies. While he was currently a prisoner of The Library, forced to remain by his father Gosei for some grand purpose he didn't yet understand. All he knew was that for a long time, Gosei had been working somewhere on something he referred to as a "ritual", with others he hadn't identified. It was all part of some grand scheme that he still never let anyone know about.

He spent some of his limited free time watching his friends, using the technology of The Library to keep track of them and their progress. He wished he could help his friends more directly, but the fact was that Gosei had kept him here, without any way to leave.

He was unable to do anything as he watched what happened to his friends. Lafitte, his hounding of them, their capture, his battle with Troy...and now...seeing Troy laid low. While it was true that they now had almost all of the Ranger Keys, the fact was that they were down a Ranger, and those of them that were still on their feet needed time to recuperate. Through all of this, Jordan wasn't able to do anything. He cursed his father for his predicament. He had power, he could have helped, and yet his father had told him he was to remain here and study.

"You look all grumpy and serious." Pythia told him. Pythia was the memory of Zordon's old student, one who had been murdered in the Fall of Eltar. Although she was not ideal company, between traces of the Eltarian arrogance that seemed to be common among their kind, and the fact that Jordan was convinced her sanity had been affected by the centuries she had spent in The Library alone, Gosei had left her there so that Jordan was not there alone. She still had a habit of appearing in the image of Jordan's mother, a form she had taken on the first time she spoke to him to ease their communications, but had since taken on, saying that it felt like a comfortable pair of pyjamas.

She wrapped her arms around him, which Jordan removed. Another irritating habit was that she had seemed to take a shine to him, and was not shy in the least about demonstrating the fact. Even if he was interested, the fact she had been dead for millennia, coupled with the fact she looked like his mom creeped him out enough to eliminate any kind of interest he might have had in her.

"Troy's down." Jordan told her. "He lost a leg, the team is exhausted and beaten half to death and I'm just sitting here on my ass with these...memories!"

"You know your place..."

"You know what, I am SICK of all this talk of my place!" Jordan screamed at her, rounding on her. "That's all I keep hearing, from you, from my father...my place, my place, and yet neither of you will tell me what the hell that is!"

"Please stop yelling." Pythia begged him.

"I'm part of this plan, I've been studying for all this time, while the people I care about suffer, while the people of my world suffer and die, and you forbid me to help!" Jordan roared. Pythia slid down the wall to the floor, bringing her knees up to her chest, and clamped her hands over her ears.

"Please stop yelling!" She continued to beg him.

"I am so sick of all of this!" He told her. "To hell with you and to hell with Gosei! If I can't help my friends, then what use am I in this...this God damned library!"

"P...p...please stop yelling!" She begged him again, starting to rock on the floor. He just looked to her coldly.

"You know what, I'm sick of all of this, including you and all your eccentricities." He told her. "I am done with studying. I'm looking for a way out of here. If you won't help, then just shut the hell up and stay out of my life!"

As he was about to leave, searching for an exit he wasn't sure existed, he heard Pythia whimpering pathetically. She looked to him with tears streaming down her face.

"Please, don't...don't leave me." She begged him. "I don't want to be alone again!"

"Well I don't want to be here, so tough shit!" Jordan told her.

"If...if you promised to return..." She started to say, before clamming up. Jordan looked to her as she continued to weep.

"You know a way out don't you?" He asked her. "Tell me!"

"If I do..."

"If you don't I swear I'll seal you in one of these memories and never speak to you again!" Jordan told her.

"What you're doing here is important." She insisted.

"Right now, helping my friends is more important." He replied sharply. "I promise I'll return, but if you don't help me get out of here to help them, none of this is going to matter."

"I...I..."

"Get me out of here!" He reiterated. Pythia just looked to him.

"You swear you'll return?" She asked him. He sighed and nodded.

"I will." He replied. "Now, get me out of here."

"I...I can't." She told him. "But I can contact someone who can."

**A/N:** Ok I am SO sorry for the delay in this chapter. Seriously, the last week has been...trying to say the least. I have to say that I feel terrible about how long this chapter took to come out, but it really couldn't be helped.

I'm pacing this story to end within the next few weeks hopefully, in time for a short hiatus I will be taking, as I once again attend a certain convention in Pasadena. I will do my best to ensure this story is out by then. I can only thank you all for your patience and continuing support.


	20. A Helping Hand

There was a hush over the highly ornate concert hall. The entire audience was dressed in their finest for the occasion. The man making his way to the podium right now was wearing a suit that easily cost thousands of dollars. He was a true legend, one that almost every person in the audience had at one time or another in their lives aspired to be like. He approached the microphone, taking an envelope out of his suit pocket. The whole audience applauded as he stood before them, bowing in appreciation of their greeting, their respect for his accomplishments, before holding up a hand to call for silence so he could speak.

"Good evening ladies and gentlemen." He began, taking his place at the podium. There were a few stragglers who were a little too slow to stop clapping, and one audience member even shouted out one of the many nicknames he had earned in his career, starting a small chant. The man just smiled, suppressing a little nervous laugh. "Thank you, really, but it isn't me that we're here to honour tonight."

As he gripped the edges of the podium, his large, gold ring was on display. It had been awarded to him many years ago when he had been inducted into this elite group. The inscription declared him to be an inductee in the International Karate Hall of Fame.

"I know many people in this hall find it bizarre to believe a high school science teacher is up here on this stage to present such a prestigious award, but we all know it's not Dr Tommy Oliver you're here for, it's 'Granite Fist Oliver.', three time World Full Contact Champion."

There was a loud whistle from a particularly enthusiastic member of the audience, causing him a little embarrassment as the 'Granite Fist' chants started again. He silenced them with a raised hand once more.

"However, it's really me that is honoured tonight, because tonight I get to present this award to a young man whose career I've followed since he first showed up on the scene in a tournament that was attended by maybe fifty people, and held in a building with no air conditioning in the height of the Arizona summer. Believe me; it was a dive, but the moment I saw him step onto the mat the first time...I knew I was witnessing something special."

Backstage, Troy was with Emma, nervously fidgeting in a suit that cost more than he was ever likely to see in his life. It had been donated by some designer or other, he really didn't care about the name, but it sounded Italian, maybe French. It was worth thousands, far more than his house, but the designer had sent it over and told him to keep it without charging a penny, all in the hopes that when the pictures were released to the press, his suit would be seen on the famous Troy Burrows.

"Will you quit that?" She asked as he tugged at his jacket, and started to smooth it down, re-setting the lapels. Troy was never one for formal dress. He was always far more comfortable in his work-out gear. The only reason he was dressed in this monkey suit was because it was expected of him at the awards ceremony.

"What's taking them so long?" He asked. "Can't they just get on with it?"

"Troy, how many times have you seen these ceremonies?" She asked him with a little smile. "You know they have to spend a while talking about all of your achievements. You know they have to spend a while saying all sorts of nice things about you, and play some video package to show everyone how amazing you are."

"Emma, I just...I just...coming here was a mistake." He started to stammer. "Tell them I felt ill and went home or something..."

"Troy, you're not going anywhere!" Emma told him, grabbing his arm as he tried to leave. She smiled at him. "You deserve this, you know you do."

"I just...You know I don't do well in front of crowds, and making speeches and..."

Just then, Emma handed him a couple of typed cards. She smiled at him.

"Just in case you find you can't think of something to say." She told him. Troy just sighed. He could never win when Emma insisted he do something. It had always been that way. He forced a smile.

"I love you, you know that right?" He asked her. She just kissed him softly as some music played.

"They're waiting for you." She told him. "Go on."

Troy turned and headed out onto the stage, at which the whole crow got to their feet in a standing ovation. He waved awkwardly as he went out in front of the crowd. He had faced many opponents, destroyed hundreds of monsters without flinching in the slightest, but this was easily the most terrifying moment of his life. He shook Tommy's hand as he got to the podium. He leaned in, speaking to Tommy directly.

"This is such an honour." Troy told him. "I grew up watching you."

"Believe me, the honour's mine." Tommy told him as he gestured to the podium. He climbed the two steps, which felt more like ascending Kilimanjaro, and prepared to speak.

"Um...thank you very much." Troy began. "I'm sorry, I'm not really much for speeches...though many of you who watched the night I won the North American Open Invitational, together with anyone who has Youtube will be able to attest."

There was a small laugh from the audience. Troy's discomfort speaking in front of an audience was almost as legendary as his Martial Arts skill. Youtube had numerous videos dedicated to some truly awful speeches he had given. He found himself at a loss for something to say, and looked down, taking Emma's cards for guidance.

"All my life, I've always sought to improve myself, but only for myself. I never sought the spotlight or fame. I never cared about money as Dana White, and more than a few Hollywood Producers can attest." He continued. "But this is one honour that I am happy to receive, to be respected by my peers, to receive your acknowledgement as the youngest ever recipient of the Lifetime Achievement..."

He suddenly paused as he read this, and started flipping through the other cards.

"Wait, this isn't right." Troy said as he tried to find something else. Tommy came closer.

"Troy...what's...?"

"This is wrong, I wasn't up for..."

"Troy...this is the Lifetime Achievement Award." Tommy whispered to him.

"No, that isn't right." Troy protested. "That...I'm not finished yet; I've got so much more..."

He was cut off as the crowd applauded and the band started playing again. Troy continued to shout his protests. This was all wrong, he had so much still to do, still to accomplish. The applause started to sound hollow, and echoed around the room as the lights started to dim. He found himself alone on the stage, looking out over an empty hall. Eventually, his attention was caught as someone tapped him on the shoulder. He turned around to see a man in a jumpsuit, pushing a broom.

"Hey buddy!" He called out, gesturing to the door. "I need to get this place cleaned up for tomorrow, you moving or what?"

"I was just..."

"Seriously, you're in the way." The janitor interrupted him. "Come on buddy, it's time to go."

Troy looked down at the trophy in his hand, before looking to the floor, which was littered by a number of other things. Certificates, medals, awards...all of them his...in a nice, neat pile, being swept up, sitting next to a trash can. Troy heard someone behind him, and looked around; seeing Emma, but it was strange...she was taller than him...quite a bit taller. It was only then he realised he was sitting down, in a wheelchair. She bent down to him.

"Troy, it's time to let go." She told him. "Come on, let's go home."

Troy let the award fall from his hand as Emma turned the chair an pushed him away, while the janitor got a dust pan and started sweeping up all of Troy's accomplishments, depositing them in the trash.

He woke up as he felt a hand gently shaking him. It took a moment for him to focus, but eventually he saw that it was Emma.

"Troy, we're in Briarwood." She told him. "We arrived."

"How long was I...?"

"It's been a few hours." She told him. "Nick's here...he's right outside."

Troy just looked to her as he tried to pull himself up with his arms. He looked around.

"Emma, I..."

"He wants to see you." Emma told him. "Are you up to it?"

Troy looked to her and saw the look in her eyes, begging him to see someone, to let Nick in to see him. Troy finally nodded, before pulling the covers up around himself. Emma just nodded in response, before getting up and heading to the door. She opened it, allowing Nick to enter.

"Troy." He greeted him, before looking to Emma. "Could you...?"

Emma looked to Troy, who just nodded to indicate it was alright. She turned and headed out of the room, closing the door behind her, leaving the two Red Rangers together. Nick approached.

"So, I heard you were in quite a battle." Nick began. Troy didn't answer. Nick could only notice that Troy made a point of keeping the covers over his legs. "I don't know much, but I heard you were hurt pretty badly."

Troy didn't say anything. Nick just sighed and held the bridge of his nose.

"Sorry, I wasn't meaning to be glib about it." Nick said, reassessing what he had said. "I just...do you mind if I have a look?"

Troy was reluctant to do anything, just staring at him. Nick made his way closer. Troy was gripping the covers tightly, but as Nick took them, he finally let go. Nick pulled it back, and took a look.

"I thought my battles with Korrag were bad." Nick commented, looking to the injury. Troy leaned forward, trying to take the covers back, at which Nick returned them, allowing him to cover it up again. "I'm really sorry we couldn't meet again under happier circumstances."

"The crazy thing is, I can still feel it, you know?" Troy asked him. "I'll still feel an itch, or I'll feel like its cold...when I go to pull the covers over it or to scratch...that's when I remember."

"The mind does do strange things when someone's suffered a trauma like yours." Nick assured him. He saw the way Troy was looking at him. "Yes, I know...despite the magic and everything, we do still hold an appreciation for sciences and medicine."

"There's so much to be done." Troy told him. "Nick...your powers...with your powers..."

"I'm sorry." Nick told him. Troy just looked to him.

"You're...you're sorry?" Troy asked him. "You can't...?"

"I'm sorry because I won't." Nick told him. "There's something you have to know about magic."

"You aren't going to do anything?" Troy yelled. "This is my LIFE!"

"It's not just your life!" Nick explained. "Troy, the thing about magic is there's always a price to be paid. There are certain laws of nature that shouldn't be tampered with."

"This isn't just about me!" Troy protested. "I have stuff still to do! We need to finish this! There's still the war..."

"Troy, all of that can still take place." Nick told him. "But if I do this, if I reverse something that occurred in the natural order, the account will have to be balanced. There's no way to tell what the price would be..."

"I don't care what I have to..."

"Or who would have to pay it!" Nick interrupted him. He looked to Troy as he let this sink in.

"I might not be the one that has to give something up?" Troy asked him. Nick just nodded.

"Magic is a tricky and unpredictable thing. There's no telling how it'll balance the scales." Nick told him. "One time, Xander tried to get rid of a pimple and turned himself into a tree. Another time, we tried to take the easy way out of a battle and turned the world into...well...let's just say we were only too happy that we found the re-set button that time."

Nick put a hand on his shoulder.

"I'm sorry, but I can't do this." Nick told him. "But only because the price would be too high."

"So...what do I do?" Troy asked him. Nick looked to him regretfully.

"I can't answer that." Nick told him. "All you can do is what anyone else does; find the way to move on."

"But...how?" Troy asked him. "All that's ever mattered to me is martial arts. Martial arts and being a Ranger...without that..."

"I'm probably not the person to tell you what your options are." He responded. "But I do know one thing. The first step in moving on, is letting go."

With that, Nick got up, and left the room, leaving Troy to his thoughts.

Meanwhile, in the Library, Jordan was pacing impatiently as Pythia sat, watching him. She had promised to help him leave the Library, to break free so that he could help his friends in their time of need in defiance of Gosei's wishes. It had now been a couple of hours since she had sent the message she assured him would bring him help.

"What is taking so long?" Jordan asked. He looked to Pythia. "I thought you said..."

"I sent the message I swear!" She protested, terrified that Jordan would carry out his threat, that he would seal her away in a memory where she would never speak with him or be around him again. She could see that in his frustration, he might just carry it out. "I...I don't know why she isn't here yet."

"Who?" Jordan asked. Just then, there was a flash of light, and he turned around to see who had arrived. He was a little taken aback by what he saw.

"Bethal!" Pythia called out, making her way over and hugging the new arrival tightly. It was a strange looking creature, about four feet in height, and covered in soft, shiny brown fur. It was dressed in brilliant white robes, and carried a strange wand in its right hand. It responded in an unfamiliar tongue, and hugged Pythia back.

"OK, who's Furby?" Jordan asked. Pythia just looked to him.

"This is Bethal!" She replied happily. She turned back. "I haven't seen you in forever! You look amazing!"

"It can understand you?" Jordan asked. Pythia just looked to him as the creature said something in its native language. Given its body language and harsh gestures, Jordan could tell it wasn't happy.

"She's a powerful sorceress, one of the wisest creatures in existence and the acting leader of her home planet. She can understand you I assure you." Pythia answered, before pulling closer to Jordan. "Also, she really doesn't appreciate being called 'it'. Just for future reference."

"So how exactly is 'she' going to help?" Jordan asked.

"Trust me." Pythia replied. "With her magic..."

"She's going to use a spell?" Jordan said in a judgemental tone. "This is The Library! I've tried everything to get out! What makes her think she can...?"

With a wave of her wand, Bethal picked Jordan up, causing him to spin rapidly, before throwing him into the wall. Jordan rebounded off the wall, landing on the floor in a heap.

"Are you convinced yet?" Bethal asked him. He just looked to her.

"You can speak?" He asked. Bethal just rolled her eyes.

"Wow, and dad always talked so highly of your grandfather." She muttered. She looked to Pythia. "Are you sure this one's worth the effort? He's not all that bright."

"Please, just...do it as a favour for me." Pythia begged her. "Besides, think how much it'll piss off Lerigot when he finds out."

This seemed to be all the convincing Bethal needed. She waved her wand, and before they knew what was happening, Jordan found himself standing in Blackbeard's cave, the place he had left the Rangers their new Zords and equipment. He looked to his hands and arms, seeing they had adopted a more human skin tone. They were a little pale, but didn't have the pale blue hue his skin had taken since Gosei had activated the Eltarian half of his DNA.

"But...how?" He asked.

"Please, I pass more impressive magic after a bran muffin and a cup of coffee." Bethal sighed, as though her spell was as impressive an accomplishment as rubbing her tummy and patting her head at the same time. "I also did something about your skin...I know how wrapped up you humans are in appearances."

Jordan just looked a little sheepish. He had misjudged Bethal because he didn't think she looked like a powerful wizard.

"I'm sorry I was rude." He told her. "I guess...I guess I was just frustrated. It's my dad..."

"Believe me, you aren't the only one pissed at your dad." Bethal told him. "My dad left me in charge of our world with barely a word when Gosei showed up with some other powerful wizards. He went somewhere to take part in some ritual or other and left me to take the reins."

"Wait...the ritual?" Jordan asked. He knew that Gosei was taking part in some kind of ritual, but he hadn't told them what it was. "He's got other wizards?"

"Several powerful magical beings." Bethal told him. "The Mystic Mother, Princess Shayla..."

"What are they up to?" Jordan asked. Bethal just looked to him.

"Whatever it is, it's big." She told him. "Now, is there anything else before I go home?"

"Can you get me a bit closer to my friends?" Jordan asked. "I mean...I don't exactly have air fare in my pockets."

"What do you take me for?" Bethal asked, before waving her wand, at which Jordan disappeared.


	21. Jordan's Return

Jordan reappeared in a forest, which was completely engulfed in darkness. He couldn't begin to guess what time it was, time had a whole different meaning in The Library, when he could see and experience virtually anything he wished. Almost a year had passed since he had been taken there by Gosei, but to him, given all the things he had seen and learned, it felt like a lifetime.

He got up off his knees and looked around the forest. He had never been to this part of the country, but he had seen some hint of Bethal's power. He was confident that true to her word, she had sent him to Briarwood...or...at least as close to Briarwood as she could.

As he looked through the forest, all he could see was trees and darkness for miles in all directions. He couldn't even see the highway that at one time passed through it, linking Reefside to San Angeles. He remembered seeing something when his friends had come to Briarwood before, remembering something Nick had said. There was a powerful spell on the city, one that took it into the Magical Realm, and hid it from anyone that hadn't been invited to enter.

"Shit." Jordan muttered under his breath, realising the detail in his plan that had slipped his mind. He had never met the Mystic Force. They didn't know who he was, and so they hadn't invited him to enter Briarwood. He hadn't told Bethal about the enchantment, and so she hadn't known about it to counteract it when she sent him to Briarwood. He was sure it had to be close...he just had no idea where. "This is why I hate magic."

With that, he started to hike, wandering around in the vain hope that someone would notice him and let him into the city to rejoin his friends.

Meanwhile, in the city, a lot closer than Jordan could possibly believe, the Rangers were sitting around by Rootcore, the old command centre of the Mystic Force. The Lightspeed team and the Mystic Force team joined Emma, Gia, Jake, Noah and Orion for a much-needed meal.

"Here." Orion said, handing Emma another cup of his tea. Emma accepted it gratefully, taking a long drink. For obvious reasons, she could hardly keep her mind on anything. All her thoughts were with Troy. Although he was always quite guarded with his feelings, Emma could always read him. She knew how important his training was to him, how much his life revolved around his Martial Arts. It wasn't as though anyone would bounce back from losing a limb, but even in the short time since it had happened, Emma could feel him pulling away. It was as though he was giving up, like he couldn't see a future for himself. Orion had tried to help her though her own anguish, offering to pray with her, but not being of his faith, she had politely refused. She couldn't deny enjoying the ceremonial tea though. She could feel the familiar warm sensation rushing through her as she took it.

"So, you're sure you can't just...you know..." Jake said, waving around a stick like a wand. Nick sighed and looked to them.

"If it was that simple, no one would ever be sick or hurt." Nick told them. "Magic always has a price, especially when you violate the laws of nature. It's impossible to tell what that price would be. All I can tell you is when the scales are balanced...it's generally messy."

"So what about Troy?" Gia asked. "What does he do?"

"I guess he does the same thing anyone else does." Dana replied. "I guess he just has to learn to adjust."

"It's not like it's the end of the road for him." Carter stated. "I mean...prosthetics are getting pretty good nowadays."

"Yeah, there was a guy in one of my karate classes who lost a leg in Basra." Chad recalled. "He was pretty good too, last time I heard from him, he was about to become a Brown Belt."

"Yeah, and I heard there are fire-fighters that needed prosthetics." Carter added. "Some of them were even able to return to duty."

"So, there's a chance Troy could get back to action?" Noah asked.

"As long as we got him the right prosthetic and he adjusted to the difference in his training, yes." Dana told them. "There's no reason he couldn't have a normal life...if..."

"If what?" Gia asked. Dana just sighed.

"The biggest obstacle for him to overcome isn't a physical one." Dana told them. "It's a struggle; don't make any mistake, but the real problem..."

"It's a mental one." Emma muttered. They all looked to her as she drank some more tea. "He needs to believe he can get past this."

"Well...it's not like he'd be the first pirate with a fake leg right?" Jake asked. Gia just glared at him.

"That only happened in books!" She scolded him. "Pirates didn't tend to have doctors on board. Most of them wouldn't have survived an amputation carried out on the ship."

"I still can't believe this happened." Jake stated. "I mean...it's Troy! The guy's made of iron! Nothing gets to him!"

With that, Emma just got up and left them. They watched her go, heading for the hotel that Nick had arranged for comfort while their ship was being re-stocked for the next leg of their journey. No one was exactly sure when that would be, but they knew that they had to be ready and soon. Vrak and Vekar would not be kind enough to wait for them to be ready.

"I'm sorry, I didn't..."

"She'll be alright." Gia told him. "She's probably just going to check on Troy."

They sat in silence for a moment, before Orion got up, looking around them.

"Maybe we should do something to keep our minds occupied." Orion suggested. "I mean, we're still waiting on Troy being ready right?"

"What do you suggest?" Nick asked him. Orion started counting the group.

"We should have enough of us here." Orion stated. "How about I teach you a game we used to play on Andresia?"

Jake just smiled. He remembered Orion telling him that there was a game similar to soccer on Andresia that Orion had offered to teach him.

"Well, I guess working off some of that meal might not be a bad idea." Jake stated. The others were a bit more reluctant, but after a while, they all realised that they could use a distraction. Orion looked to Nick.

"Can you get us a soccer ball?" He asked. Nick just smiled.

"I think I can manage that." He replied. "You sort out the teams; I'll be back in a few minutes."

Up on the Armada Command Ship, Lavira went into Prince Vekar's chambers, finding himself exercising. He had locked himself away, turning over control to Damaras while he worked to return to an acceptable condition following his weight gain.

He had long since shifted the excess weight, but he seemed to have shifted the goal posts, and attained a new goal. Given the number of troops he had called to be sent to the holo trainer, it looked like he was starting to get a taste for combat. As she entered the room, she was about to say something, but found herself rendered speechless by what she saw.

He was performing chin-ups...but he was doing so using only two fingers on one hand to grip the bar! He was stripped to the waist, revealing a remarkable change in his physique. When he began, he had a huge paunch, and even before that, his body could at best be described as fleshy. Now...his pale blue skin was showing a lot of muscle that hadn't been visible before. His abs, his pecs, his shoulders...all of them now looked like they were carved from stone.

"Ah Lavira!" He said as he dropped down from the bar, coming towards her. "It's been so long; I wanted to tell you how well your device has worked."

Lavira had given him a device that electronically stimulated his muscles as he slept, giving him the equivalent of another full workout while he was resting up from Argus' idea of a workout...which seemed to have a lot more in common with a suicide mission if she was honest. It had a huge effect on the results. Lavira started to stammer, staring at him as she tried to comprehend the results.

"As you can see, it has been most impressive!" He complimented her. "Now, what was it you were here to tell me."

"Um..." She started to say, her mind drawing a blank. As she stared at him, she had a hard time remembering anything about what she was about to tell him. Finally, it came to her as he stared at her, like she was a stammering, bumbling idiot. "There...there have been some more developments since Lafitte's destruction."

"Oh, what developments?" He asked her.

"A couple of large energy signatures appeared on the scanners. "One of them shows up as an Armada signature, but...none of us have sent anyone down."

"That is odd." Prince Vekar commented. "It's probably just some commander trying to make a name for himself. It used to happen all the time in the Beta sector..."

"The other shows up as...Eltarian." She continued. Prince Vekar just looked at her.

"Eltarian?" He asked. "But...they disappeared from the Earth months ago!"

"It appears one of them is back." Lavira told him. "This presents us with a rare opportunity to..."

"Send everything that can be powered up in the next ten minutes!" He ordered her. "If Gosei is back, I want him to regret crawling out of whatever hole he's been hiding in!"

"As you command Your Highness." Lavira responded as she turned and left the room. As she got outside, closing the door, she leaned back against it, taking a moment to catch her breath. It had only occurred to her to breathe once she left his chambers. She took a moment to gather her bearings, before making her way to the armoury to see what was available.

Back in the forest, Jordan was wandering around aimlessly. As he passed the same rock formation for the fiftieth time, he let out a frustrated snarl and kicked it over.

"Bloody magic!" He remarked, running a hand through his hair. He considered his options for a moment, trying to think of a way to attract his friends' attention. Thinking about it, he hadn't really thought through this whole plan. He heard a snap, a turned around to see something in the distance, in the darkness.

"It's awfully dangerous to go walking around the woods at night you know." A familiar voice said in a casual tone. Jordan tensed up hearing it.

"Vrak!" He said as the cyborg stepped into view. "So, you really have been hiding all this time."

"I prefer to think of it as...biding my time." He told him. "Unlike my brother, I am playing the long game...and you can help me."

"I think I'm going to choose...no!" Jordan replied as his Robo Knight armour formed up around him. He drew his Robo Blade as Vrak drew his own weapons. As they started to circle each other, waiting for the other to begin, there was a bright flash, and they both found themselves surrounded on all sides by X-borgs and Bruisers...hundreds of them! Vrak looked to Jordan.

"Shall we take a rain check on our little duel?" He asked. Jordan responded with actions, turning and cutting down the first robots to attack him. Vrak did the same on the opposite side, smashing his brother's troops to pieces with ease as they advanced on them in an unstoppable tide.

Inside the barrier, the Rangers were in the middle of the game, Jake on a breakaway with the ball. The game did have some similarities to soccer as he had promised, in that it wasn't permitted for players to use their hands to control the ball, but it seemed like that was where the similarity ended.

At each end of the field, Xander had shaped some trees, altering the position of their branches to make three hoops, held upright about six feet off the ground. Orion had explained that to score, the ball had to pass through one of the hoops. Noah had commented it reminded him of Quidditch, but Orion's blank stare had reminded everyone that sometimes pop culture references didn't really work with him.

As he was rounding Gia, Jake suddenly experienced yet another major difference between the games. Orion charged at him full-pelt, wrapping an arm around his chest and shoulders, while his left foot went behind Jake's legs, sweeping them out from under him and drove him down hard. Jake coughed a little as he felt like he had been hit by a freight train.

"Dude." Noah stated. "Are you sure that's legal?"

"Hey, ask Tensou if you don't believe me!" Orion protested. Carter just rubbed his bruised ribs.

"Well, not all of us are fortunate enough to be Andresian." He stated. "The rest of us aren't as solid as you."

One of the things that had turned up in Noah's scans of Orion was that Andresians, although human, had evolved a little differently from Earthlings. The gravity on Andresia was slightly higher, meaning that their bone and muscle structure had evolved to be slightly denser than that of other humans. It meant that he weighed more than someone his size should, and was marginally stronger and more resilient than he should be. Orion just smiled.

"Well, if you're saying you can't take it..."

Just then, Tensou flew into view. He landed in the middle of the field, interrupting the game.

"Rangers, Rangers!" Tensou screeched in panic. "There's a battle going on outside the barrier!"

"A battle?" Jake asked. "But there's no one for miles!"

"There are hundreds of Armada troops!" Tensou told them. "Vrak is there too..."

"Great!" Noah said. "Let them beat each other senseless..."

"Jordan's out there too!" Tensou concluded. The Corsairs all looked around each other hearing this.

"Jordan?" Gia asked.

"Yes! He showed up!" Tensou told them. "I don't know how or why but...but...he needs help!"

"Come on!" Jake stated, snatching up his morpher. He, Gia, Noah and Orion all ran from the field, heading for the battle.

Outside the barrier, Jordan carved down another Bruiser as he started to back up. He bumped into something, and turned a little, realising it was Vrak.

"I bet you never thought you'd find yourself here did you?" Vrak asked him. "Standing back to back with me."

"Why are they attacking you?" Jordan asked him. "They're your brother's troops!"

"They don't recognise me in my new form. They believe I am an enemy." Vrak told him. "I suppose for the time being, the enemy of my enemy..."

"I don't buy it!" Jordan replied. Just then, the Rangers showed up, morphing as they ran into action, cutting them down from behind. Vrak just smiled.

"So predictable." He stated. "And very timely."

With that, he turned, and rammed a blade into Jordan's exposed back, a blade which penetrated his armour. Jordan cried out in pain as it plunged into him. Vrak activated a command, at which Jordan felt a searing, burning pain coursing through him.

"I have to admit, the Red Ranger taking out Lafitte was inconvenient, but it did have some positive outcomes." He stated. "Now the Red Ranger is laid up, and Gosei's precious baby boy has come out from under his rock!"

Jordan screamed loudly as Vrak twisted the blade, concentrating on the attack. Jordan looked down, seeing the armour recalling into him. He then felt something unusual...he felt the strength it offered leaving him. He tried to stop it, but as he willed it to return to him, he could feel the armour ripping through his body. As Vrak pulled out the blade, and Jordan fell to the ground, he looked to the metal artefact on his blade. Jordan turned over to see it too...it was the implant that had crawled inside him over a year ago, granting him the power of the Robo Knight and starting him on his Ranger adventure. He started to scoot away.

"Thank you for bringing me this." Vrak told him. "Don't worry, you'll see it again. Have fun with my brother's toys."

With that, Vrak disappeared, leaving Jordan on the ground. The Corsairs managed to clear up the last of the robots, before rushing to Jordan's side, looking concerned. He pulled himself painfully to his feet and forced a smile.

"Uh...hi guys." He offered. "Surprise! Guess who's back!"


	22. A Farewell to Armsso to Speak

Emma was in her room, completely oblivious to what was going on outside the barrier. She had left during their discussion about Troy's future. She knew it was something that all of them were thinking and worrying about. It wasn't as though anyone was under any false was Troy's state of mind. He had hardly spoken at all since he had woken up to discover his leg had been amputated. What hurt most of all was he hadn't even spoken to her about it.

She took another sip of Orion's tea, but almost dropped the mug as she heard a crash from Troy's room. She put down the mug and headed in, finding Troy on the floor, trying to pull himself up onto his...feet? As she went to his side, helping him up, she saw a prosthetic strapped to him.

"Troy, are you alright?" She asked him. Troy tried to brush her off him, using the wall to support his weight. He tried again to take a step, but overbalancing; Emma struggled to catch him and guided him onto the bed. "Troy, what the hell are you doing?"

"Nick couldn't give me my own leg back." Troy told her. "But he used his magic to heal up the incision and bring a prosthetic here."

"Troy, you could hurt yourself..."

"Emma, I need to do this!" Troy insisted. "I...I have to be ready, I can't let everyone down."

"Troy, no one expects you to get over this in a week!" Emma insisted. "Please, you can't push yourself. You only lost the leg two days ago."

"Emma, I can't hold the team back. If I can't keep up, then I'm only going to be a liability." Troy told her. "I won't allow the team to be put at risk because of me."

"Troy, we're at risk every time we fight." Emma reminded him. "None of us were forced into this; we all chose to take those morphers from Gosei."

"Emma, you don't understand. I...I need to do this." Troy told her, forcing himself back onto his feet. He took a cautious, shaky step, before steadying himself on the wall. "If I can't pull my weight, then...then I don't have a place on the team."

Emma just went to his side, positioning herself near his arm, gripping it loosely.

"Emma..."

"I'll only help if you start to fall." He told him. "I don't want to see you hurt anymore."

"Emma..."

"Troy, I love you, and...I always will, no matter how tough things get." She replied. "I'll always be there to catch you if you need it."

Troy looked into her eyes, and pulled her in, kissing her passionately. He looked at her running his hand through her hair as they parted and smiled.

"I love you so much." He answered. Just then, they heard a commotion outside. Emma just looked to Troy as she heard the others coming in, and could hear some panicked and rapid speech. They'd heard that before, and it invariably meant someone had been hurt. She looked to Troy, who just nodded and gestured to the door.

"Go." He told her. "I'll be fine."

Emma helped him get back to the bed, sitting him on the edge of it, and then left to see what all the fuss was about. She found the others bringing in someone...someone rather familiar.

"Jordan?" She asked as she saw them bringing him in. He looked a little different from the last time they saw him. In his transmissions, he had a faintly blue skin tone, something they were assured was down to the Eltarian half of his DNA. He was sat down as Dana arrived with a first aid kit.

"Guys, there's no need to fuss." Jordan told them. "The blade didn't go in too deep."

"Jordan, you got stabbed." Gia reminded him. "Humour us."

Jordan just sighed as he let Dana examine him. Emma came around in front of him.

"Jordan?" She asked. "What are you doing here?"

"I...I kind of escaped from The Library." He told her. "I saw...um...I saw a lot of the stuff you've been through recently, and I broke out to try and help."

"How did you get out?" Noah asked. "I thought Gosei..."

"I got a little help from some alien called Bethal." He told them. "Apparently she's the daughter of a wizard called Lerigot...he and my grandfather go way back apparently."

"So...you broke out and came here?" Gia asked.

"Yeah, but...I guess I have a bit to learn about magic." Jordan told them. "I wasn't able to get through the barrier...I guess Vrak and Vekar must have tracked me down. The rest...you walked in on."

"Vekar sent down a huge squad of his robots." Jake told Emma. "Vrak was already there. He was fighting with them too. It looked like there was some kind of rift between Vekar and his brother...but...um..."

"It looks like it was just a way to catch Jordan unawares." Noah concluded. "The weapon he used on Jordan...it looks like it took the Robo Knight armour."

"It took the Robo Knight?" Emma asked, looking to Jordan. He just sighed and nodded.

"Yeah, totally did not think this through." Jordan stated. "So much for Eltarian intelligence."

"I'm not so sure you can blame the Eltarian half for that." Gia teased him. She and Jordan had always had kind of a sibling relationship. Neither of them were ever happier than when they were making fun of the other. He just smiled.

"OK, I've missed that." He told her.

"So, you came here to help us, and managed to lose the Robo Knight." Noah concluded.

"Well, if you want to look at the negatives, then...yeah." Jordan answered.

"So, not that we're complaining, but...what are you doing here?" Gia asked.

"Moral support?" He offered weakly. They just looked to him and smiled.

"It's good seeing you back Jordan." Jake told him, high-fiving him as Nick cast a quick spell to close the wound, one Dana had assured him he was in no danger.

"Yeah, it is good seeing you." Noah added.

"I...I should be getting back to Troy." Emma said as she got up to leave. "It's really great seeing you Jordan."

"Thanks." He replied as they left. As they left, only Orion was hanging back. Jordan looked to him. "So...I guess we finally get to meet face-to-face."

"I guess so." Orion replied, offering him a handshake. "Orion."

"Jordan." He answered, shaking his hand. "Good work with the Silver Morpher by the way."

"Thanks." Orion answered, looking a little uncomfortable. Jordan had built the Silver Morpher with the intention of using it himself. Gosei had taken it from him and told Jordan to remain in The Library to study for his part in the war to come. Jordan had been troubled by this at first, but seeing Orion in action, he knew that his father had chosen a solid warrior as the Silver Ranger. "Um...I guess you can have my room?"

"You don't have to..."

"I really don't mind sleeping on the ship." Orion assured him. "I mean...I guess you were here first right?"

"Thanks." Jordan answered. "So...goodnight I guess."

With that, Orion left, making his way back to the Red Galleon. Jordan just leant back against a wall, holding his head in his hands. He had come back to help the team, but it seemed that all he had accomplished was to create new problems.

Up on the Armada Command Ship, Lavira was in her lab, waiting for the wreckage of her invasion force to come back. Her incursion had failed to take out, or to bring back the Robo Knight. Her troops had run into resistance, and stopped transmitting, and now she needed to know why so she could report back to the Prince.

As the first components returned, Damaras came into the room.

"What...what is this?" He asked her.

"This is what's left of the last invasion force sent to Earth." She told him.

"Invasion?" He asked. "I never authorised any invasion!"

"It was my..."

"The Prince left me in sole command of the ship!" He interrupted her.

"And you've been doing such a fine job haven't you?" She responded critically. "Its little wonder he instructed me personally to send a force!"

"He...he asked YOU?" He asked her in response. She just smiled.

"I'm not surprised really; he's probably SO impressed with your record." She told him.

"And by the looks of things...you're not really faring any better." He said, picking up an arm that wasn't attached to anything. "I guess you underestimated whoever you sent them after."

"I guess so." She answered. "Although I guess I'll know more once I retrieve the data from their memory banks."

"Retrieve the data?" He asked her. "Don't they broadcast?"

"Well, that was odd." She told him, glaring at him. "Something jammed the signal just after they arrived, so I'm going to have to analyse their hard drives."

She stepped closer, glaring at him.

"Of course, if I didn't know any better, I'd say that someone was trying to hide something about that battle." She continued. She'd had her suspicions for a while that Damaras was not failing because of ineptitude, but that he was purposefully holding back. She had suspected that his loyalty to the Prince was in question. She had no evidence, but it just seemed like he was doing all he could to keep the Prince clueless as to what was happening with his forces.

"You might want to be careful Lavira." He told her. "If I didn't know any better, I'd think you were accusing me of something."

Just then, a communicator burst into life.

"Lavira!" The Prince called through. "I wish to see you in my chambers!"

"Your Highness." She responded. "I have important work..."

"Lavira, I need you in my chambers immediately!" He told her. Lavira just sighed and looked to Damaras. "Bring your measuring tape."

"I'll be there shortly." She answered, before heading for the door. Damaras watched her go, closing the door behind her, before turning his attention to the wreckage. Pulling a device out of his armour, and activated it, bathing the wreckage in a pale green light. As soon as he was done, he put it away and activated a communicator.

"Vrak, it's done." He told him. "I've magnetically erased their hard drives."

"Good, we don't want to spoil the surprise too early." He replied. "In the meantime, keep me updated on my baby brother's activities."

"Of course Lord Vrak." He replied as he hung up, before leaving the room. Lavira would return to her work, to find nothing in the wreckage of use. Damaras was still nervous about this whole thing, but he had gone too far to alter course now. The Prince was inept, incompetent and weak. It was obvious he wasn't up to the task of ruling the universe. He could only hope that the manoeuvres would be over soon. The sooner Vrak took command, the better.

In Briarwood, Jordan couldn't sleep. He still couldn't help feeling like he had only brought more problems than answers. He was so intent on joining his team to help, that he hadn't stopped to think about the danger he would expose himself to. If he was honest, right now, he wasn't even sure what he could do for the team.

As he got to the lobby of the hotel, heading for the bar to get a drink, he found Troy sitting by the bar on a stool. He made his way over.

"Troy?" He asked.

"I...I couldn't sleep." Troy told him.

"Join the club." Jordan answered. "So, what are you drinking?"

"Lemonade." He responded. "It's hard enough keeping my balance on this thing."

It was only then that Jordan realised Troy was on his own, meaning he had to have made it down to the bar himself, and there was only one way he could think of that he could do that. He couldn't help taking a look down, seeing two legs, but they were concealed beneath his jeans. It took a second for him to realise that Jordan was looking. He looked up and started to become a little uncomfortable.

"Uh...I'll have one too." Jordan told the barman. He couldn't help noticing that Troy was still looking at him as he took a sip of his drink.

"Sorry, I...I didn't mean to..." He said as he looked to Troy. Troy just pulled up one of his trouser legs, showing him the prosthetic. It wasn't much to look at; it was a plain looking metal rod, attached to the foot.

"Before he used his magic to bring it here, Dana went through a lot of the options with me." He told Jordan. "Apparently this model is popular with servicemen that became victims of landmines."

"I thought I recognised it." Jordan answered. He had grown up on military bases. Sadly, it wasn't exactly uncommon to see people who had been gravely injured. Over the last decade especially, a lot of servicemen had suffered horrific injuries in battle. In his time, Jordan had met quite a few people who were recovering in military hospitals. "So...um...how does it feel?"

"I have to admit, it still feels pretty weird." Troy told him. "I almost ended up on my face about a dozen times coming down here."

"Wait...you came down here yourself?" Jordan asked him. Troy just shrugged.

"I didn't want to wake Emma." He told him. "She'd only worry."

"Troy, she loves you, that's why she worries." Jordan told him. Troy took a long gulp of his drink.

"I just...I can't hold the team back." Troy told him. "Vekar's just going to get more desperate and dangerous, and now Vrak's back in the picture...we can't face them at half strength."

"Troy, you can't just pretend nothing's going to be different. It's a massive adjustment." Jordan told him.

"Don't you think I know that?" Troy asked him. "Why do you think I'm pushing myself?"

"Troy, what you've achieved is unbelievable. You made it down here by yourself!" Jordan reminded him. "The guys I met took months to learn to walk on prosthetics!"

"The others need me at full strength." Troy told him. "And...It's taking too long."

"Troy, you can't..."

"Chad's already told me that there are people who train with prosthetics, there's even a guy campaigning to be allowed to compete in MMA with his prosthetic." He answered.

"Troy, what you've accomplished is amazing." Jordan reiterated. "And I don't doubt for one second that if anyone can do this it's you."

"But?" Troy asked, sensing it was coming. Jordan just sighed.

"It's going to take a while." He answered. Troy just nodded in agreement. "And in the meantime, you're just going to have to accept that once in a while you might just have to lean on someone."

"I guess." Troy answered as he gestured to the barman to order another drink. "I'm just...I'm just not used to feeling this vulnerable."

"Hey, do you think I felt great when Vrak attacked me?" Jordan asked him. "But I suppose if I want that back, then I have to let go of my failure and start figuring out how I move forward."

"You put one foot in front of the other I guess." Troy answered. Jordan choked on his drink.

"You...you didn't seriously just say that right?" He asked. Troy smiled.

"So...there's something I have to do." Troy told him. "And I'd like your help."

"I'm all ears." Jordan told him.

The next morning, the rest of the Rangers assembled in the woods. They had all gotten a note from Troy to meet him there. When they got there, they found him with the Lightspeed team, the Mystic Force team, Jordan and Emma, sitting by a large pile of wood they had gathered.

"OK Troy, we're here." Jake said. "What was so important?"

"I just wanted you all here for this." Troy told them. "We've accomplished a lot together, but there's still a long way to go. We've still got one more set of Ranger Keys to find."

"Not to mention getting the Robo Knight back." Jordan stated. "Not to mention getting rid of The Armada and Vrak once and for all."

"We've taken some serious hits." Troy told them. "But we can't dwell on it. The only thing to do now is move forward, and to do that, first we have to let go of what's already happened."

He then gestured to Jordan, who picked up something wrapped in plastic. Jake recoiled slightly.

"Um...is that...?"

"We were going to have to dispose of it sooner or later." Troy told them as he took the bundle from Jordan and laid it on the pyre. "Nick, would you mind?"

Nick clapped his hands together, at which it burst into flames. They all sat and watched as it started to burn. Emma put her arm around Troy in a show of support.

"So...should we say something?" Noah asked. "I mean, it is...kind of like a funeral right?"

"What exactly do you say about a foot?" Jake asked. The Rangers didn't reply. None of them could exactly think of what to say about this situation.

"Guys, we can't stay here." Troy told them. "We've already attracted too much attention to this area. The barrier might have fooled them up until now, but we can't take any chances. Not when there are still fugitives hiding here."

"I guess we can't let Vrak and Vekar get too much of a head start." Gia answered. "Are you sure you're up to it Troy?"

"Actually, that's what I was going to say." He answered, pulling away from Emma. "I'm not going with you."

"What?" Emma asked, looking to him. He cradled her chin with his hand.

"I...I can't go with you, not yet." He told them. "Chad's agreed to help me train, to get used to the prosthetic. I'm going to work as hard as I can, but until I'm up to par, all I'm going to do is put you in danger. All of you."

"But Troy..."

"You'll all have to look after me, and I'm not willing to put you in danger like that." He told them. "I'll work hard, as hard as I can, every day...and I promise I'll come back, but not until I can pull my weight."

He kissed Emma softly, and looked into her eyes.

"Troy, please..."

"I'm sorry Emma, but this is the best thing I can do." He told her. "I promise I'll be back."

He looked to Gia as he passed.

"Gia, the others have always looked to you in my absence. Until I get back, the team is yours."

"I won't let you down." She assured him.

"Wait, this is insane." Jake stated. "We're still short a Ranger!"

"That was the last thing I wanted to talk to you about." He answered. He pulled out his morpher, and handed it and his Ranger Key to Jordan. Jordan just looked to him.

"At least this time when you tell people you're the Red Ranger you won't be lying." Troy told him. "It isn't the Robo Knight armour, but I figured you wouldn't mind borrowing it until you get your own powers back." Jordan just nodded.

"I won't let you down." He assured him. "I promise."

With that, he turned and walked away with the Lightspeed and Mystic Force teams, heading back into the city. Gia held Emma as she watched Troy leave, seeing her begin to tear up. Holding her, she looked to the team assembled around her.

"Come on." She told them. "Let's get going. The Armada isn't going to wait forever."


	23. The Next Journey

It had been little over an hour since the Red Galleon had left Briarwood, and Emma was standing on the main deck, clutching another cup of Orion's tea. She didn't really know why, but it had a calming, and comforting effect on her. It was something that was welcome, since it had only been an hour previously that Troy had dropped the bombshell that he would not be going with them.

It pained her to know that he was so far away, and that he was facing the struggles ahead of him alone. She knew exactly why he had opted to stay behind, and as soon as he told them of his decision, there was a part of her that was not in the least surprised, that expected it. Troy was not only a proud person; he was also constantly concerned about the welfare of the team, taking his responsibilities to their wellbeing to heart. Now that he could no longer guarantee how long it would be before he got himself to a place where he felt like he could pull his weight in battle, he had done what to him was the only responsible thing and taken himself out of the equation.

That didn't make things any easier for Emma. Although she knew he would be safe in Briarwood, at least for the foreseeable future thanks to the Mystic Rangers' protective barrier, there was a part of her that always took comfort in the fact the man she loved was with her. It was tough for all of the Rangers to leave behind their families, their friends, their loved ones, but for Emma, she had already gone through losing one of the most important people in her life permanently. As she took another sip, Gia arrived behind her.

"I let Jordan take the controls." Gia informed her. "I really have no idea where we're going, so I doubt even he can screw up too badly."

Emma smiled just a little. It seemed that Gia and Jordan, despite all that had happened and everything that had changed had picked up right where they had left off in their relationship. They never did anything deliberately to hurt each other, but they had always had a real love of teasing and winding each other up. At times, it had looked like it was dangerously close to spilling over into real hurt feelings, but they seemed to always maintain a balance that meant no one was ever really upset.

"This is the first year you know." Emma told her. "It's the first year I've not sang to mom on her birthday."

Gia just looked at her a little sympathetically. Ever since Emma had lost her mom to cancer when she was 11, Gia and Emma had always gone out to the woods, to the place that Emma had scattered her ashes and sang the song that her mother always sang to her as a girl. Emma had idolised her mother, and got her love of nature from her. Although they had all given up a lot on their journey, Gia had noticed her birthday passing a couple of months back, and had remained silent, hoping that Emma hadn't noticed or was trying not to dwell on it. Given the fact that they had left Troy behind, Gia figured Emma would be upset, and wanted to talk to her, but it seemed it had only brought some of this other stuff to mind.

"Emma..."

"Look, I know it was a while back. I just...I just couldn't help thinking about it." She told Gia.

"Look, it's never easy leaving someone behind." Gia told her.

"I know I've been really lucky in that respect." Emma assured her. "Troy was here with us from the beginning. He was here all along. I didn't have to leave him behind like Noah did with Quinn or Jake did with Allison or..."

Her words tailed off as she tried to bite her tongue. Gia just sighed and put her arm around Emma.

"I don't know what the future holds. The one thing that I've learned is that you can never tell what's coming." Gia told her. "When we left LA, I was certain that things with Cat were over for good, now...thanks to a little trolling, I figured out she was lying about Tamsin to break things off. She did it because she thought it would be easier for me to be mad at her."

"I just...I always liked knowing that he was here." Emma continued. "It kind of made things easier you know?"

"I know that I'd have loved to be able to talk to mom a lot of times." Gia answered. "Or Ernie, or Cat. I keep thinking about all the stuff I'd love to tell them, all the crazy stories we've got about our time out here."

"No doubt Dad would have another heart attack if he knew half the stuff we had been through." Emma said in response as she took another sip. "I've got a feeling a lot of those stories will never be told."

"Look, Tensou's gone into hiding somewhere on the ship." Gia informed her. "He kind of threw a fit when Jake suggested Jordan should get the next clue...he pretty much pecked him to bits and said he'd never let Jordan hit him before disappearing. It was really pretty funny."

"It sounds like it." Emma chuckled, hearing this. "I guess he still blames Jordan for screwing up the tracking software."

"Oh, that little bird can hold a grudge alright." Gia agreed with a huge smile. "I was just going to say...until we can convince him to come out of hiding, we're not going anywhere, so...you should feel free to go and rest up."

"Thanks." Emma answered. Gia gave her one last squeeze, before heading back below deck. Emma took one last look around, before heading inside, heading for her room.

Well, it was her room _now_. It had been the room she had shared with Troy.

She was exhausted, with thoughts swirling around in her head of what they would have to face, and how much she wished Troy was still with her. She was so tired; she couldn't even bring herself to get changed for bed. Heading to the closet, she took one of Troy's t-shirts, so that she had something of his close to her, and lay down on the bed, huddling it close to her. As she started to drift off, her eyes closing as she slipped into a deep sleep, she never noticed as her morpher started to glow.

Up on The Armada Command Ship, Lavira returned to her lab, her measuring tape in hand. The Prince had ordered her into his chambers to take his measurements to fashion him a new suit of armour.

She had already fashioned him two suits, the one he wore originally, and the one she had made when he had...let himself go...in his depression over his military failures.

As she got to her computer, she started to enter in the measurements she had taken. Her mind started to wander as she did so.

She still could hardly believe the change in him, despite taking the measurements herself. He was a fair bit larger now than when she crafted his first suit of armour, something he had never intended when he began his new regime. However, it seemed he was taking some pride in his new build, so much he had asked her to prepare him some new armour, ready for his return to the helm.

She had always thought herself as much a tailor as an armourer, given that a lot of work for the Prince was as much about vanity as it was practicality. His first suit of armour was sculpted, shaped to give him a musculature and physique that simply did not exist beneath it. It was designed to make him look as impressive and intimidating as possible. This new suit however, there would be no need for exaggeration of his build.

She couldn't help thinking about what she had seen as she stretched the measuring tape over his rock-hard torso and his comparatively massive arms. She could feel the strength, the power in them as she worked. She was one of the only ones that had ever dared to look the Prince in the eye, but she found herself unable to do so as she took in every detail of his form. Her stomach started to tie up as she recalled it, and she felt her chest tighten up as her thoughts drifted off to...she almost jumped out of her skin as Damaras coughed, announcing his presence.

"You've been gone a while." Damaras commented.

"The Prince has put me in charge of an important new project." Lavira stammered as she tried to shake herself back into reality. "I am to construct him new armour."

"Progress is slow I take it?" He said with a small laugh. "I suppose this one is only TWO sizes larger than his original."

"He is progressing well." Lavira told him. "I believe he is preparing to come back to a position of full command."

Damaras didn't like the sound of this. While the Prince was basically an inept general, he always insisted that he was in charge when he was on the bridge, and had a habit of hamstringing any plan with his incompetence any time he got involved. While his incompetence had been of little consequence in their past campaigns, the Armada's military might being so strong most worlds fell within days of the initial invasion; the Earth had put up a strong resistance, far stronger than they were used to. It was becoming clear to more than a few that something extra would be needed to claim the Earth; something Damaras no longer believed was possessed by the Prince. He was hoping to help Vrak manoeuvre himself into a position to depose his brother and claim command himself, a feat he was sure would be much more difficult if the Prince was back giving his idiotic orders.

"He is?" Damaras asked. She just turned her chair to look at him.

"Yes, he is." She answered. "And given what I have seen, when he does, the Earth is in deep trouble."

"You've changed your tune Lavira." Damaras stated. "You complained about him as much as anyone."

"I...I...I have seen a great change in him." She told him. "He is now far more powerful, more focused...he was...he has never met a challenge that motivated him like this."

Damaras noticed her speech was a little rapid and slightly broken, both of which were uncommon for her. Lavira was normally extremely confident and precise in her convictions. He moved a little closer.

"Are you sure it's just his...power...that has changed your mind?" He asked her. Lavira just looked at him a little blankly, but could feel herself starting to get a little warm.

"I...I don't know what you mean." She told him. Damaras stared at her for a second, before suddenly bursting into hysterical laughter as he looked at her. She couldn't see, but her face had changed shade, giving away something that Damaras was starting to suspect.

"You...you aren't convinced by his power." He told her. "And I doubt it is his return you desire."

"I..."

"It is HIM you desire!" He told her, laughing right in her face. Lavira wracked her face, trying to come up with a suitable response, to return with some sharp wit, but her mind was as blunt as a lump hammer in that moment. He leaned in, placing his hands on the arm rests of her chair and leaned in, looking straight in her face.

"He has his pick of the nobility of a thousand worlds across a hundred star systems." He told her. "Not to mention the extensive harems that would gladly open their doors to him with simply a word."

He picked up a spanner, and held it in front of her as he looked into her visor. She felt like he was able to see straight through it right into her eyes, and beyond, right into her mind, reading her thoughts.

"What makes you think he would give a mere...smith...a second thought?" He asked her, tossing the spanner away. "Enjoy this while it lasts, then concentrate on goals you can actually attain. You are more useful to us concentrating on where your talents really lie."

With that, he left the room, renewing his laughter at her expense. Lavira picked up the head of a wrecked X-borg and threw it, smashing it off the door, imagining it being Damaras, before turning back to her work bench, and resting her face in her hands as her tears began.

Back on the Red Galleon, deep in the night, Emma was starting to toss and turn rapidly in her bed. She was starting to sweat profusely as she did so, clutching Troy's t-shirt tightly in her grip. Her morpher was glowing brightly, lighting up the room, and her mind started to be assaulted by vivid colours and tinny sounds that echoed through her, but didn't rouse her. Over time, they started to form up into images, battles, conversations.

She found herself standing in a room, lined with computer banks, and surrounded by her team, smiling as she felt the rush of victory in battle. She spoke.

"I don't know you guys, the helmet really messes with my hair." She said, causing her team to look at her. She smiled as they just stared at her. "NOT!"

As they laughed though and high-fived, something occurred to her...this was not her team! She felt like they were, but they were not the team she served on...the Command Centre was not the one she had used back when she had more or less the same conversation. Things seemed to slow down as she took another look around to get her bearings. She recognised the other Rangers...she had met them.

The one in Red, she recognised as Jason, a Secret Service agent that had passed along a directive from the President to shut down General Edward's operation to find the current team. Next to him, wearing Yellow...was Principal Kwan, at one time Special Agent Kwan, who had taken up the job in Harwood High to keep an eye on them after Operation Knightfall had been disbanded.

The guy in Blue was Billy, the guy who had helped them attain the Mighty Morphin' Ranger keys in Angel Grove; while the one in Black...anyone who saw him would recognise him as President Elect Zack Taylor...they were different though...they were younger. They were her age. As the team laughed, Jason came to her, embracing her tightly, lifting her off the ground.

"Good one Kim." He complimented her. "You had me going for a minute there."

"How could I turn this down?" She asked in response. "How amazing is this?"

Her vision shimmered and she found herself in a decidedly different situation. She was in a desert, separated from a team by a force-field, her suit sparking and smoking under a relentless assault.

She saw a sword driven into the ground at the epicentre of the blast zone, and started to make her way towards it. She was hit with wave after wave of energy as she powered her way towards it, her flesh burning and her strength being sapped with every step.

As she got to it, she swung her sword, connecting with the sword, and in a huge, white flash, and in instant of intense agony, everything disappeared.

Emma sat bold upright on the bed, covered in sweat and breathing rapidly. Her heart was pounding like a jack-hammer as she came back to consciousness in the room. The rest of the Rangers ran into the room, looking at her in a panic.

"Emma!" Gia called out, coming to her side. Emma pulled her morpher from her belt, which was still glowing, and threw it across the room away from her.

"What the hell was that?" Emma asked.

"Emma, you were screaming." Noah told her. "We all heard it."

"I saw...I saw..." Her eyes came to rest on Orion as he picked up her morpher. He just looked to her.

"My morhper...it does the same thing." He told her, looking to her. "You had a vision."

"She had a vision?" Noah asked. "You mean, like you do with the Sixth Rangers?"

They all looked to Emma, who was still in a state of panic, and was more confused than any of them. She just nodded tentatively as she stared at her morpher, wondering what was happening to her.

Fin.

**A/N: **This story has run its course, but rest assured the next one will be starting soon enough...and I do have a little while before the Con, so I should hopefully get around to answering a few questions I'm sure people will have surrounding the latest events unfolding.


End file.
